Serbian opposition lawmakers on Friday described the country as tense and on the verge of conflict, citing purges in the police and judiciary, a deteriorating media environment, and growing repression across executive institutions, during a meeting with a European Parliament (EP) delegation.
Marinika Tepić, a member of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), told the delegation that recent legislative changes to Serbia’s judicial system, discussed in a special parliamentary session, threatened to undermine the independence of the courts further. “This delivers a decisive blow to the destruction of the Serbian judiciary. Given that Serbia is in an election year, none of this contributes to fair and free elections,” she said.
Tepić praised the EP resolution on Serbia adopted last year for distinguishing between the government and the Serbian people. “The Serbian Progressive Party is not the state. There is a large number of citizens with different views demanding change,” she said, urging European lawmakers to apply pressure on the European Commission to support Serbian citizens.
Other opposition parliamentarians at the meeting, including Đorđe Stanković, Radomir Lazović, Borko Stefanović, and Pavle Grbović, highlighted ongoing attempts to control the judiciary, repression against students, punitive measures against educators, and deteriorating media conditions.
Radomir Lazović, co-chair of the Green-Left Front, said the delegation discussed “continued repression against citizens,” police interventions at universities, new police appointments, the formation of the broadcast regulator council (REM), and alleged influence by Russian security services. He stressed that problems cited in last year’s EP resolution have deepened.
The opposition also called for targeted EU sanctions on Serbian Progressive Party officials, including Marko Krička, head of the Criminal Police Directorate. They proposed strict conditions on EU funding from the Western Balkans Growth Plan and questioned the political membership of the SNS in the European People’s Party (EPP).
Pavle Grbović of the Movement of Free Citizens described the EP visit as a signal that the situation in Serbia is “unusual for the EU.” He said EU officials were briefed on proposals for redirecting EU funds to support civil society and independent media. He warned that Serbian institutions were misusing EU resources to monitor opposition figures, media, and activists.
Nine members of the EP Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET), representing groups from the EPP, Socialists and Democrats, Greens, Renew Europe, European Conservatives and Reformists, and the far-right Europe of Nations and Freedom, are in Belgrade assessing reforms needed for Serbia’s EU accession.
The delegation’s mandate derives from the October 22, 2025, EP resolution supporting a fact-finding mission in Serbia to examine corruption, the erosion of security standards, and state-sponsored repression, including the violent suppression of protests at the University of Novi Sad.