EP encourages Serbia to condemn hate speech by accused war criminal Šešelj

On the proposal of the EPP Group, the European Parliament (EP) has passed an urgent Resolution on ‘Serbia: The Case of Accused War Criminal Šešelj’.

Following the ICTY's provisional release of Vojislav Šešelj, the President of the Serbian Radical Party indicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vojvodina (Serbia) in the early 1990s, the European Parliament has strongly condemned his recent warmongering and incitement to hatred towards non-Serbian people, the encouragement of territorial claims (the ‘Greater Serbia’ project) against neighbouring states, including EU Member Croatia, and attempts to derail Serbia's European path.

"It is a matter of European values: if Serbia, as a candidate country, wants to join the European Union, its authorities should clearly condemn Šešelj's inadmissible behaviour. It is in the interest of Serbia's European future", said Andrej Plenković MEP, Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the author of the Resolution. The EP noted with concern the absence of an adequate political reaction and legal response by the Serbian authorities concerning Šešelj’s hate speech after his provisional release.

Plenković added: "The ICTY should take determined action to reaffirm the public confidence in the work of the Tribunal." The EP Resolution calls on the ICTY and the ICTY's Office of the Prosecutor to re-examine the existence of requirements for Šešelj's provisional release under new circumstances; Šešelj's secondary victimisation of the war victims and the announcement that he will not voluntarily return to the Hague when requested.