Serbia vote shows citizens back EU integration

Serbia vote shows citizens back EU integration

The results of the snap elections show that Serbia's citizens want EU membership, experts say.

Serb voters overwhelmingly supported the Progressive party in Sunday's (March 16th) vote. [Nikola Barbutov/SETimes]

The landslide victory of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in the snap elections show that the country is not only ready to continue on its path the EU, but also that citizens dismiss any opposition to the country's European future, experts and analysts said.

The SNS, which places European integration, economic reforms and the fight against corruption and crime at the centre of its platform, will be able to form a government on its own after winning an estimated 50 percent of the March 16th vote, or 158 of the total 250 seats in parliament.

None of the parties opposed to European integration managed to pass the 5 percent election threshold.

In his first public address after the announcement of the election results, Aleksandar Vucic, who will most likely be the new prime minister, said the state would continue its path to the EU and carry out numerous economic reforms.

"We have difficult reforms ahead of us," Vucic said. "Serbia has a future in which its children will live far better than they do today. It will not be easy to reach that goal, but the citizens have recognised a great opportunity for us to be more responsible, to work harder and to act differently."

Maja Bobic, secretary general of the European Movement in Serbia, told SETimes that the SNS now has the capacity to implement the necessary reforms for European integration on its own.

"That should create a stable framework for the European integration process, but it will...