Stano: EC stands ready to support Serbia in implementing ODIHR recommendations

BRUSSELS - European Commission (EC) spokesperson Peter Stano said on Thursday the EC stood ready to support Serbia in implementing all recommendations of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

"We stand ready to provide support for the implementation of all the recommendations by ODIHR OSCE, including on the issues that are vital for the public in Serbia, for the Serbian people, and for its confidence in the electoral process, because there are more elections to come in Serbia," Stano said at a Brussels press briefing following Wednesday's release of the final ODIHR report on the December elections in Serbia.

"We stand ready to support the Serbian authorities in addressing all those issues," he said.

"Of course, we expect all the credible reports, all the irregularities to be followed up in a very transparent manner by the competent national authorities. This includes also the allegations which relate to the local elections in Belgrade in particular, but also other municipalities," he said.

Asked when the EC would respond to a non-binding European Parliament resolution calling on it to set up an expert mission to investigate alleged electoral irregularities in Serbia, Stano declined to elaborate on details of the EC's interactions with other EU institutions.

"The position of the European Union, of the European Commission, is very clear - it was already phrased in the reaction to the preliminary report of ODIHR on December 19, where we expressed certain reservations and concerns. Now, after the publication of the full report, of course, we are taking note of this report," Stano said.

"The electoral process in Serbia requires tangible improvement and further reform because proper functioning of Serbian democratic institutions is at the core of Serbia’s EU accession process," he also said.