EU Commission holds first talks with Serbia’s Student List

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos met four Student List representatives in Brussels on Monday, the party’s first high-level EU contact since its landslide win. Talks centred on democracy and domestic affairs, as polling irregularities delay the new government. Representatives of Serbia’s election-winning Student List held their first high-level meeting in Brussels this week, but the talks centred on domestic affairs rather than on repairing ties with the EU. European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos met a delegation of the party that won last month’s elections by a landslide, and offered EU support on domestic reforms. Born from months of student protests, the movement secured an absolute majority in parliament, ending the 14-year rule of Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). For Brussels, the change of government in Belgrade raises hopes of a reset with the Western Balkans’ most influential country. However, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama told Euronews the new Serbian government is unlikely to recognise Kosovo, a key sticking point in the relations with the bloc. “Serbia has the chance for a fresh start. The new Serbian government has an opportunity to turn the page, strengthen democratic institutions and fundamental rights, and take the necessary steps to advance on Serbia’s accession path,” Kos told MEPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. She confirmed at the hearing that she had met the Student List earlier this week, just as the Commission was finalising its annual assessment of candidate countries. The report points to negative trends in fundamental rights and persistent anti-EU rhetoric from Serbian authorities. But its reporting period ended before the elections, so it does not reflect the result. “I have met the representatives of the Student List. We were discussing many things. Also, how the primary role they see now for Serbia is to become a democratic country again,” she said. The meeting took place in Brussels on Monday afternoon at Kos’s invitation. It involved four Student List representatives, who told the Commissioner they were focused on restoring the rule of law and democracy in Serbia, for Europe’s sake but primarily for their own people. The grassroots movement emerged after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 16 people and fuelling public anger and accusations of widespread corruption and negligence under the SNS. “The protesters in Serbia want the same as the European Union is asking from Serbia, meaning anti-corruption, free and independent media, free and independent judiciary. Good neighbourly relations and, of course, also strategic alignment with the European Union. We are ready to help the new government to do all the necessary reforms,” Kos added. The conversation focused on domestic affairs rather than enlargement because irregularities at several polling stations are delaying the finalisation of the result, and with it the formation of the new government. The Student List has yet to clarify its leadership and government plans, so the delegation acted as a group, and the Commission declined to confirm who took part. It was the party’s first high-level exchange with a senior EU official. According to the Commission’s published appointments, it met no other Commissioner that day. Besides forming a government, the Student List, a ticket of political novices including professors, doctors and students, faces another test in presidential elections due by late December. Signs of political realignment are already visible: the head of public broadcaster RTS has resigned, senior police officials have been arrested, and the operating licence of a bank believed to be linked to the SNS establishment has been revoked.