European Parliament to wait until 12 October for Serbia's observer invitation
If no official invitation arrives by Monday the EP cannot send its observation delegation for Serbia's 25 October elections.
The European Parliament has signalled it will accept an official invitation from Belgrade for election observation no later than Monday, 12 October, even though the formal deadline for invitations expired on 8 October. Without that invitation the Parliament cannot take part in an observation mission for Serbia's snap parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October.
The Parliament's Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group filed a request in time to observe the vote and a seven-member delegation was approved internally, but Serbian authorities did not submit the formal invitation within the prescribed deadline, the Parliament says.
Rapporteur Tonino Picula's warning
Tonino Picula, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Serbia, said the missed deadline has concrete consequences. He told reporters: "However, the authorities in Serbia did not invite the European Parliament to observe the 25 October elections, and the deadline for organising a mission of the European Parliament has meanwhile expired. This practically means that the opportunity to send a delegation to observe the European Parliament has been missed." Picula added that the institution was nevertheless prepared to wait until 12 October for a late invitation.
Officials in Brussels emphasised that, in the absence of an official invitation by Monday, the Parliament will be unable to deploy its pre-approved delegation to Serbia on 25 October.
Domestically, Serbia's Republic Election Commission today finalised the consolidated ballot list for the upcoming vote: 18 parties and coalitions submitted a total of 2,418 candidates for parliament.
Photo: press material from the event
