Key findings from relevant reports examined in context

Within a single fortnight in July 2026, the European Commission produced two documents about the same country and largely the same developments – but they tell a very different story. On 3 July, the Commission circulated an internal note for EU Member States on recent developments in Serbia relevant to Cluster 3. The non-paper, later […]

The European Commission has published its 2026 Rule of Law report on Serbia. The picture it paints is of a country where the formal reform agenda keeps moving – new laws, new strategies, new opinions requested from the Venice Commission – while the substance of the rule of law continues to erode in practice. Political […]

On 8 July, EU member states, meeting in Coreper II, declined to open Cluster 3 (Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth) in Serbia’s accession negotiations. The decision came despite a European Commission note, published by POLITICO, that credits Belgrade with “recent progress” across the fundamentals. Read closely, much of that progress consists of the authorities putting out […]

The European Parliament’s annual Report on Serbia adopted on 7 July reflects the realities on the ground and acknowledges many of the concerns that civil society organisations have consistently documented and raised over the years. It confirms that the voices of citizens, journalists, academics, activists and independent organisations are heard in the European Parliament. The […]

The Kofi Annan Foundation’s Electoral Vulnerability Index (EVI) 2026-2027, released in June 2026, gives Serbia a Risk Index score of 48.8 – the highest of any European or EU-candidate country in the Foundation’s published country analyses, after Russia, the only European country on the Index’s global top-15 list of highest-risk elections. Serbia’s score is nearly […]

On 23 June 2026, a cross-party group of more than thirty Members of the European Parliament addressed a public letter to the European Commission, calling for an immediate intervention to protect students, journalists and activists facing prosecution in Serbia. The letter was initiated by Vladimir Prebilič (Greens/EFA) and Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D) and signed by […]

Overview On 23 June 2026 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution 2659 (2026) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Serbia – the first time since 2012 that the Assembly has examined Serbia’s honouring of its membership obligations and commitments. Despite some progress, the Assembly finds there are now serious concerns […]

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty visited Serbia from 18 to 21 May 2026 and issued an end-of-visit statement documenting a broad deterioration of the human rights situation. The Commissioner expressed concern over increasing violence and intimidation against journalists and civil society actors, noting that only five of approximately 200 documented attacks […]

On 11 April 2026, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media issued a statement marking the 27th anniversary of the murder of Serbian journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, who was shot dead outside his Belgrade home on 11 April 1999.The statement noted that Serbia’s Supreme Court, acting in a Protection of Legality procedure, found multiple serious […]