European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has urged Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to swiftly reform electoral laws and ensure media freedom but stopped short of demanding that Serbia hold early elections, analysts told the daily Danas.
During her visit to Belgrade on October 15, von der Leyen underscored the urgency of cleaning up Serbia’s voter registry and resolving the issue of politically influenced appointments to the country’s media regulator, the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM). She reportedly gave Vučić a one-month deadline to show concrete progress.
“Implementation matters,” von der Leyen told the Serbian president, according to local reports.
Despite speculation that Brussels may be pressuring Belgrade to call snap elections, observers say the EU’s focus is instead on restoring trust in Serbia’s electoral process, which has been under scrutiny since the disputed December 2023 vote.
“The European Commission’s message does not mean the EU is pressing Serbia to hold elections soon,” said Sofija Popović, a journalist with Savremena Politika. “Brussels wants credible reforms, not a rushed ballot.”
She added that the EU’s insistence on revising the voter list and improving media independence marks a continuation of the conditions tied to Serbia’s access to EU growth funds.
Von der Leyen’s demand that Vučić return to Brussels in a month with measurable progress was seen as an effort to ensure that even limited reforms are not undermined. “The EU knows that these two issues — the voter register and the REM council — are the minimum steps needed to restore credibility to the electoral process,” Popović said.
Other analysts viewed the move as a more forceful attempt by the EU to hold Vučić accountable.
“This is an effort to bring Serbia’s leadership back within the bounds of democratic norms,” said University of Belgrade professor and Democratic Party official Biljana Stojković. She argued that the EU’s stance reflects growing frustration with Serbia’s authoritarian drift. “Vučić’s servile policy has forced him to make some concessions before von der Leyen’s visit, but no one believes in his sincerity,” she said.
Sociologist Dario Hajrić noted that the EU’s tone has shifted as repression in Serbia has become more visible. “The contrast between democratic façades and autocratic practices has become too blatant for Brussels to ignore,” he said. “This is not a demand for elections, but a push for the government to align words with actions.”
Just a day before von der Leyen’s arrival, several NGOs involved in Serbia’s election reform process approved a draft law on the unified voter registry prepared by ruling-party MP Uglješa Mrdić — a move criticized by opposition representatives as an attempt to appease the EU rather than ensure transparency.
Von der Leyen’s visit comes amid rising domestic unrest, including student-led protests demanding new elections and an end to what they describe as systematic election manipulation under Vučić’s rule.