After citizens voted in the constitutional referendum in Serbia, leading MEPs issued the following statement on Monday.
“We welcome the decision taken by Serbian citizens to support the change in the Constitution to make the justice system more independent. This is an important step on Serbia’s EU path to integration.
We are concerned about the reports that electoral boards were not adequately prepared to conduct the voting process. We call on the responsible authorities to ensure improvements are made in this area in the run-up to the upcoming elections. We will continue to monitor the implementation of the constitutional changes as approved by the referendum as well as other reforms to the rule of law.
We regret that no agreement was reached with Kosovo to allow for the ballots of eligible voters living there to be collected, which has been the case previously.”
Vladimír Bilčík (EPP, SK), Standing Rapporteur for Serbia
Tanja Fajon (S&D, SL), Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee
Background
On 16 January, Serbia held a referendum on constitutional amendments to guarantee that judges and prosecutors are elected without the direct involvement of the National Assembly. Judges and court presidents will be elected exclusively by the High Judicial Council, while prosecutors will be elected by the High Council of Prosecutors. The three-year probationary mandate for judges will also be abolished, as it was one of the major deficiencies in the current Constitution.
According to the Serbian Republic Election Commission (RIK), just over 30 percent of the electorate voted in the referendum, with a majority voting ‘yes’. Preliminary data show that 61.84 percent of the voters who turned out voted yes, 37.1 percent voted no and 1.04 percent of the ballots were invalid.