Representatives of the Party of Freedom and Justice, People’s Movement of Serbia – New Face of Serbia, SERBIA CENTRE – SRCE, Green-Left Front – Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own and the Democratic Party – DS parliamentary groups met with a delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany, headed by the State Minister of the Federal State of Hesse, Manfred Pentz.
In the course of the meeting, the MPs spoke about the deep political and social crisis in Serbia, claiming that the rule of law is collapsing, there is a lack of democratic institutions, pressure on political dissenters and the University as a whole, and a complete lack of media freedom. They particularly emphasized that in the past two years the National Assembly has convened ten times, which, they said, further indicates institutional erosion.
MP and Head of the Party of Freedom and Justice Parliamentary Group Borko Stefanovic emphasized the importance of Serbia's European path and assessed that a change of government is the only possible way out of the current crisis, but that a precondition for this is fair and democratic elections. He emphasized that the demands of the students, who have been protesting across the country for six months, are based on the principles of the European Union - democratic standards, transparency and accountability of the government, and as such have the full support of the opposition parliamentary parties.
Minister Pentz expressed his satisfaction with the meeting, stressing that the information he received would be useful in his upcoming official meetings during his stay in Belgrade. He particularly praised the joint political stand of the opposition in Serbia, which, he said, is not often the case in other countries.
The MPs explained that it was precisely their support for the students' demands that united them, as these demands are based on fundamental democratic values and as such have their full support. They expressed special respect for the student initiative that resulted in a clear political articulation of the protest and the demand for early elections.
A clear message of support for the citizens of Serbia and the students' demands was requested from the German side, because, as stated, these are the values on which the European Union is founded. Both sides expressed hope that cooperation with Germany would continue and strengthen in the spirit of shared values, and Pentz emphasized that Germany recognizes Serbia as one of the key actors in the Western Balkans and that it is in the interest of both Europe and Serbia that it remains pro-European.
The meeting was attended by MPs Borko Stefanovic, Slobodan Cvejic, Biljana Djordjevic, Miroslav Aleksic, Ksenija Markovic, Pavle Grbovic and Djordje Stankovic.