It has been a year since Serbia opened any chapter in the EU accession negotiations. At the same time, the Report of the European Commission is coming out, according to which, as it turned out, we have moved even further away from the EU, instead of closing some chapters and moving to new ones, we have been standing still for a year. What does this mean for young people in Serbia? The non-existence of the rule of law, political pluralism, great social inequality, affects the entire Serbian population and prevents a quality life.
What can the young people hope for if the Report of the European Commission states that there is no dialogue with the opposition parties? How can a state function without a dialogue? In everyday life, we have to agree and discuss, and, imagine how important this is for the existence of a complex entity such as the state. If we have predominantly one party, with a uniform and a single-line opinion, nothing significant and productive can be born from that, the state will not develop and provide what it was created for, and that is to provide good for all citizens.
How can we feel safe and work on our dreams if there is no progress in our justice system? If there is still too much pressure on the judiciary, and if it is not an independent branch of the government? Montesquieu may not have been right when he invented the third branch of government. Excessive political influence in the judicial system is worrying, according to the report of the European Commission. In a system where the judiciary is not independent, corruption and organized crime can flourish, which Serbia is not even trying to improve. This sends a message to the young people that nothing is worth the effort, that there is always going to be somebody ahead of us, with more money and more connections, and that we do not have a quality judicial system to protect us.
A quality life requires a whole system of institutions aimed at all the citizens, and providing services to their citizens while protecting their rights and their personality. Criticizing the state of fundamental rights in Serbia, the report sends a message that our rights are limited. Violence against journalists, lack of dialogue, threatens our basic human rights. Different opinion is silenced, freedom of speech is limited. The work of independent institutions is commended, while at the same time it is criticized for lacking capacity and independence. In such a system, the young person does not feel secure. It has no one to turn to if its rights have been violated, it cannot develop.
What can we hope for if there is an enormous social inequality and if the numbers show that unemployment has decreased, while in fact it was caused by the outflow of population abroad? Democracy has been disrupted, independent institutions are no longer independent, the lack of legal certainty, violence against and non-transparency in the media are factors that make you not want to live in such a state. After such a report and the state of democracy in Serbia, perhaps emigration is all that is left for us. Is it that, even six years after the start of the negotiations, the European Union seems so far away, that emigration is the only thing we have left? But, Serbian institutions, with this Report, have a chance to improve our political system and other things that should be improved, so in the future Serbia will be a proud member of the European Union.
Author: Dijana Pecer, Center for Democracy Foundation