Antonijevic expects new meeting with MEPs: The topic will be lowering electoral threshold

Executive Director of the Open Society Foundation Milan Antonijevic said today that he expects new talks in the coming weeks between representatives of the European Parliament, EU's enlargement commissioner and all political actors in Serbia, and that the topic of talks should be the lowering of the electoral threshold.

Antonijevic explained for Tanjug that, according to still unconfirmed information, EP representatives and Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi should visit Belgrade in the coming weeks, and he expects that a round of talks will be held on the topic of changing the threshold.

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"It may also be a good opportunity for everyone to come together at one table to discuss issues that are important to all citizens and their democratic rights, to discuss censorship and many other topics, to return to the topic of the media and the situation in the media," said Antonijevic, adding that he considers the visit to be timely.

It is good, he says, to see the commitment of the European Parliament representatives to Serbia's progress.

Photo: Tanjug/Sava Radovanovic

Asked if he would accept the role of a mediator again, Antonijevic said that he would participate, as before, in round tables held in the National Assembly, that he recalled are attende by civil society as well.

"When we finished the cycle of talks at the Faculty of Political Science (FNP), then the EP became involved and our role is only as experts who can give a clear picture of what has been improved, which of the things put on paper which the government of Serbia promised have been implemented, and which laws have been passed, what the consequences of these laws are and whether we will really see the changes in the picture we see in the media and in the pressure on voters... all that was the subject of discussion at the FPN," explained Antonijevic.

Asked to comment on MEP Tanja Fajon's statement that radical changes ahead of elections are a "dangerous tactic" - referring to changing the threshold, Antonijevic says that this is a tactic, but that a distinction should be made between political decisions.

"A decision to reduce the threshold to three percent is a political decision that can be made, but on the other hand, you have all those legally binding documents and practices, which is that the law is not changed in an election year. I think these are the two sides of the scales that should be measured," said Antonijevic.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)