MEP: The government is playing the victim, the students are the real victims

In an interview with N1, Sandro Gozi, an MEP and the Secretary-General of the European Democratic Party, discussed the ongoing situation in Serbia.

N1: How do you see the situation in Serbia in the last couple of weeks, the reaction of police toward protesters, but also the authorities who label protesters as terrorists, fascists, Nazis, Ustasha, and so on?

Sandro Gozi: I’m very concerned. We are very concerned as European Democrats, as Renew Europe, our parliamentary group, because we see citizens, students that exercise their democratic right to protest, and we see the police and the government which are using unacceptable means to repress the demonstrations. This is a thing that we don't want to see in Europe and we don't want to see in a member state with a candidate towards the accession of the European Union, but certainly what we are seeing is absolutely unacceptable. And it is concerning, it is alarming, and this is why I have already tabled the question, the written question to the European Commission, because I want the European Union to react to what we are seeing.

N1: There are reports of excessive use of force, arrests of teenagers, beating of women, attacks on journalists. However, the authorities deny all this and claim that the ruling party is the one that is being attacked, the state as well. Were you informed about all of this? And what can the EU do about it? Because people in Serbia are becoming a little angry over a slow reaction by the European Union.

Sandro Gozi: Yes, we are informed and we are informed thanks to social networks and thanks to free media like yours, and we also see what is really happening and I repeat I am concerned. We are concerned about an overlapping in Serbia between violence, people on the street, a political party the current government, and the police, which seems to be at the service of a party and not at the service of the state. That is our impression. And this is not good. And I have to say that the declaration of President Vucic and the declaration of also the president of your parliament and of our member of the majority are not reassuring because they want to sell the story, which is obviously not the real story. And the story is that there are, I repeat, free and democratic protests which are being brutally oppressed.

I understand that the Serbian protesters, the Serbian students, the Serbian democratic forces are impatient, but be assured that as far as we are concerned, as far as the European Democratic Party, the Renew Europe group is concerned, we will increase the pressures to have an EU reaction, but also already now the European Union has made clear with Serbia that there are problems. Unfortunately, there are problems in your country with media freedom, with rule of law, with civil society.

The negotiations are slow on these issues because your government is very slow and reluctant in tackling these fundamental issues from our perspective.

N1: President Vucic claims everyone will see a strong reaction of the state in a couple of days and that all that is left is that someone dies on the streets in Serbia. Would you call this a threat?

Sandro Gozi: Of course, I don't see which other word we should use. And it is totally irresponsible that the president of a republic like Serbia uses this language and uses this threat. I think that a responsible leader a responsible president would try to calm, to ease the tensions, to calm down the tensions and not to ignite, to fuel the tensions with such irresponsible declarations. And I hope that the violence will decrease and not increase. But certainly it is very concerning, this kind of statement. And this is another reason for concern, because we think that the President of the Republic should try to find a solution, and not increasingly be part of the problem and I think that with the declaration it seems that your president wants to become part of the problem and this is something that is very, very concerning. I have to say also surprising because in general I repeat the president should have an interest, if not will, at least an interest in calming down and easing the tensions rather than igniting them.

N1: The government is also strongly supported by pro-government tabloids and TV stations. President brands independent media as terrorists as well. He did not let N1 ask him a question at the press conference. N1 was not allowed to attend police press conferences either. Our journalists are attacked on a daily basis when they report. They are attacked by politicians, by pro-government media, especially by one TV station where their editor calls us different kinds of names, including morons, retards, terrorists, and so on. And he often adds, he did that last night as well, what if your TV burned if someone came in front of your houses? How do you see all this coming from a country that is an EU candidate country?

Sandro Gozi: This thing shouldn't happen in a democracy and this thing shouldn't happen in a European country which is already a member of the Council of Europe and rightly wants to become a member of the European Union. This doesn't look like Serbia. In these days, this looks more like Belarus. I think that you got a Belarusian drift in declaration at least. And it is once again surprising. And then another issue that I want to underline, because sometimes the nationalist forces and also your government play the victim. They say that the European Union is too critical about them, too critical about Serbia. We are not critical about Serbia. Serbian people belong to Europe. Serbia, as a big European, important European country, belongs to the European Union. We are critical about the attitude, the declarations which are very far from the European Union and sometimes I wonder whether the Serbian president, the Serbian government really want to join the European Union, because this kind of declaration and the kind of action of the police which are seen on the street goes towards a totally different direction. We don't want to complicate the Serbian process to the European Union, but we want to be fair and we want to be democratic. And certainly don't believe the representatives of your government when they play the victim, because today the only victim that we see are the students on the street, harshly beaten by the police and we have a duty to denounce it and to use the accession process to push the Serbian government to play by the rules and to play by the principles which are at the heart of the European Union and, I repeat, at the heart of the Council of Europe where Serbia is already a member.

And I think that from Brussels and from Strasbourg, we should raise our voice because what we see, these images that you are showing now on your screen are totally unacceptable.

N1: Yes, we were also speaking about respecting the rule of law and the institutions, and the government also says that the protesters do not respect the institutions. But, on the other hand, we have independent bodies that are also under attack. Just this weekend, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality said that conflicts on the streets, I quote, are occurring because citizens’ trust has been lost and people are taking justice into their own hands because they have not been protected by those who are obliged to protect them. Just 20 minutes after that, she was verbally attacked by Serbian Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic. So how do you see this? Because it also sends a message to other independent bodies to keep quiet, right?

Sandro Gozi: Well, 20 minutes is very fast. It's extremely fast. And I think it is rather odd that the president of a parliament threatens and attacks an independent body, an independent authority, a non-governmental public authority. And this is another issue of concern, because there should be a clear separation of powers, there should be full respect for the independent bodies, and we don't see that at this moment. And all this seems to go in the direction to suffocate the democratic protests and the democratic rallies. And I think that this is also something very wrong.

I repeat, there is a very concerning drift in Belgrade, and something that we don't want to see, not because we want to interfere in the domestic affairs of Serbia, but because there are fundamental principles, democratic principles, the role of civil societies, which must be free in Europe, everywhere, and this also applies to Serbia. Serbia does not make an exception. And unfortunately, we see today an attitude from Serbia that, I repeat, looks more, resembles more the attitude of a non-democratic country, regime and we hope that the situation can improve and come back to democratic negotiation, democratic talks as soon as possible because we are friends of Serbia and I am personally a friend of Serbia, a friend of South-Eastern Europe. I had worked a lot in that part of Europe and to me it's really very concerning what we see, we are seeing now in Belgrade, in Novi Sad and in other important Serbian cities.

N1: Yes, we mentioned independent bodies, but prosecutors, judges are also targeted, the rector of the University of Belgrade, students that we mentioned, professors, everyone who dares to say something against the government is attacked as well.

Sandro Gozi: We stand by the rector of the University of Belgrade, we stand by independent media, we stand by the students and we stand by civil societies, not because we want to interfere in the specific issues of the matter, but because we want democracy to work properly. And democracy cannot work properly if there are threats against those who dare to express a different opinion from the opinion of the government or the president. So this will be what we will continue to do as European Democrats, as Renew Europe, to stand by the civil society of the citizens because we stand by the democratic principle of law, freedom of expression, and freedom of media.

N1: And just to conclude this interview, do you expect any stronger reaction from the EU? We did see really strong reactions by Financial Times and Le Monde, for instance, their editorial staff wrote an article about the situation in Serbia, very critical of the current government. So do you think there will be a stronger reaction from the EU?

Sandro Gozi: Well, I share the analysis of the Financial Times and Le Monde, and this is why also I made a very strong statement and be assured that as far as I'm concerned, as the Secretary General of the European Democratic Party and member of the Presidency of Renew Europe will continue to put the pressure. There are also some other colleagues of mine who have raised their voice in these days in favor of civil society and students and we will continue. We will continue to put pressure on the European Commission and on the Council to take some action which can also mean to suspend, further suspend and to put a higher pressure on the Serbian government concerning the accession negotiation process because it is totally unacceptable. So I mean I cannot talk on behalf of the Commission or the Council, but be assured that as we, European Democrats will continue to put pressure and increase our pressure and we will continue to speak about what is happening in Serbia. Because unfortunately, you are overshadowed by Ukraine, U.S. negotiations, Middle East, Israel, very important issues. But we want to continue to put the light on what is happening in your country.