UK ambassador: Serbian Government has to ensure fair and free elections

“When elections take place in my country, I, as a citizen, want to choose freely between various political options, platforms and candidates. I want to have free access to the stances that are represented through free media such as, for instance, public broadcasting service,” the ambassador told Politika daily.

The experts who monitor the electoral process in Serbia are the ones to assess if the elections that are boycotted by one part of the opposition are legitimate, she added.

“That’s specifically up to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). We will pay attention to what they say,” stressed MaAcLeod.

Speaking of the stance that the Quint countries have towards Belgrade and Pristina, the ambassador said it was not true that these countries were exerting more pressure on Belgrade to end the campaign of withdrawal of Kosovo recognition than on Pristina to revoke the 100 percent import tariffs for Serbia and Bosnia.

“I don’t accept that our messages for Pristina and Belgrade are not consistent. They (the messages) say it would be best to avoid the actions that complicate the current situation. It would be better to focus on the steps towards the normalisation of the relations, in order to form better connectivity among the citizens on both sides,” she said, adding this is why the UK welcomes the efforts to establish the air and railway traffic between Belgrade and Pristina.