The European Democratic Party, the European Green Party, the Party of European Socialists, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe issued a joint statement calling on the President of the European Commission and the European Union as a whole to stand with citizens in Serbia who have been protesting for democratic rights and the rule of law over the past year.
“President Vučić has been repressing demonstrators, including through the use of violence, for almost a year. Tomorrow, President von der Leyen will visit Serbia again. We fear that President Vučić will use her visit to claim that he has the support of European partners. Autocrats must not be rewarded,” the statement on the European Greens’ Instagram page reads.
Media organizations call on EU to suspend funds to Serbia
A coalition of media rights organizations has called on von der Leyen to raise the issue of media freedom and the protection of journalists while in Serbia and throughout her visit to the Western Balkans. The organizations explicitly called on the European Union to use leverage at their disposal to pressure Vučić, including suspending EU funds to the Serbian government.
“The current level of violence against journalists in Serbia is unique among all EU member states and candidate countries. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) documented 34 physical attacks on media professionals carried out in less than two summer months by political activists and law enforcement personnel. To date, the annual number of physical attacks in 2025 stands at 76 cases, according to RSF data – unprecedented, judging by the records of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS), which have been kept since 2008,” the statement reads.
The coalition members are Free Press Unlimited, the European Federation of Journalists, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the Balkan–Caucasus–Transeuropa Observatory (Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa), Reporters Without Borders, ARTICLE 19 Europe, Index on Censorship, the International Press Institute, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Parents of high school students appeal to von der Leyen
The Parents of Belgrade Initiative and representatives of the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium have sent an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for a response to what they describe as “the violence that Aleksandar Vučić’s regime is carrying out in schools against educators and students.”
The statement says that the education system at the Fifth Gymnasium is collapsing “through the intimidation of staff, the appointment of party loyalists, and the prohibition of communication between parents, teachers, and students.” The parents add that children are the direct victims of such a system, which is why parents and students, “desperate after being ignored and denied their rights,” have decided to put the school under a protest blockade.
The statement also recalls a recent remark by Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stanković, who, as they note, “further humiliated parents” by saying that they “have psychological problems.”
Because of all this, the parents’ initiative and the representatives of the Fifth Belgrade Gymnasium are calling for an urgent response from the President of the European Commission and a meeting where they could present evidence of workplace bullying and political abuse in the education system.
“We demand an end to the collapse of schools and the restoration of dignity for students and teachers,” the signatories of the letter emphasized.
A.M.; M.B.
