US official: Finding evidence of what happened in Belgrade election takes time

Asked if the US has to choose between reform and stability in the Western Balkans, especially in Serbia, speaking at the German Marshall Fund, O'Brien said “this is the question I ask myself every day.”

“Look at the Serbian election, I think we still don’t know whether there’ll be a government in Belgrade from this election. International observers actually did not look at that election. So finding the evidence of what happened in Belgrade is something that’s building over time. But we’ll see whether there’s a government that’s formed,” said O’Brien when speaking about America’s priorities regarding Europe.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs pointed out the fact that, at the December 17 elections, the opposition parties in Serbia won 200,000 more votes than in the April 2022 election.

“At the parliamentary level, the opposition parties emerged with 200,000 more votes and many more parliamentarians than they had had before. In many areas, that’s a mark of a place that is allowing some kind of a different way forward,” said O’Brien.

He explained that, in the current alignment of the Western Balkans, Serbia “does pretty well by investment and economic standards.”

“The incomes in Serbia keep going up, the growth in Serbia keeps going up, more high value investment goes into Serbia. If we want the other states and the people in those other states to have the same opportunity, we have to encourage reform, even at the risk of some instability,” said the US diplomat.

O’Brien also commented on this week’s Western Balkans – European Union meeting in North Macedonia’s capital Skoplje on the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans that was adopted by the European Commission in November.

“The Western Balkans is waiting for final approval of the European Growth Plan for the region. The key thing about this is that, in exchange for certain reforms, the states of each state, on its own, with no veto from another, will be able to benefit from participating in parts of the European single market,” he said.

O’Brien said the Growth Plan is a “really innovative project” that will begin to show effect already over the course of this year.

He added that, though there are certain differences from one state to another, the Western Balkans region has a good opportunity for progress.