The first round of the second phase of the European Parliament facilitated Inter-Party Dialogue was held on 9 and 10 July in Belgrade. It called for achieving tangible results to improve the level-playing field ahead of the next elections.
EP facilitators of this dialogue were former MEP Knut Fleckenstein with Vladimír Bilčík (EPP, SK), Foreign Affairs Committee Rapporteur for Serbia and Tanja Fajon (S&D, SL), Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Serbia. The National Assembly of Serbia was represented by its Speaker Ivica Dačić.
The Dialogue brought together leaders and representatives of parliamentary groups as well as opposition parties and platforms around the same table for the first time.
Joint Statement by the facilitators:
“We welcome the presence of a very broad spectrum of political forces and their commitment to the dialogue. We are aware that challenges related to the electoral process still persist and we will work together to address them. We confirm our commitment to support the integrity of the electoral process.
We want to stress the importance of equitable access to media, media pluralism as well as media ethics and standards, particularly in the context of pre-electoral and electoral campaigns.
We now need to seize the momentum created by this dialogue. Today more than ever it is necessary to achieve tangible progresses that can be implemented effectively ahead of the next electoral campaign.
We are ready to support the efforts from the participants in the Inter-Party Dialogue to reach agreement on the electoral conditions.”
European Parliament remains committed to support Serbia and the National Assembly of Serbia in the reform processes related to the European integration of the country.
The co-facilitators presented the Conclusions of this round of the Inter-Party Dialogue and agreed to meet in the same format on 17 and 18 September 2021 in Belgrade.