Different votes of Serbia's delegation to PACE harmful

BELGRADE - Different votes by members of the Serbian parliament's delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) are harmful, although all MPs have the right to vote as they wish, Serbia's outgoing parliament speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic stated on Saturday.

“If you ask me as a Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) official, I think this is harmful. It is a bad message to vote in favor of suspension of the right to vote of a country which has done a lot for us. What kind of democracy is that when you exclude someone from a forum? That is not good,” said Stefanovic, SNS deputy president, said for Radio and Television of Serbia.

Every MP has the right to vote as they wish, but they should be aware of the responsibility of such voting and be careful about the message which is being sent in the manner and possible consequences, he said.
“It is better when the foreign policy is harmonized since that shows the country's strength and unity,” Stefanovic said.

He believes that the policy advocated by the SNS is the best solution for the country and the citizens, adding that Serbia should take a neutral stance and avoid conflicts of great powers.

The PACE resolution adopted on Thursday envisages that Russian MPs will be deprived of the right to vote by the end of January 2015, and the MPs of the Serbian delegation cast different votes concerning the adoption of the resolution: MPs of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) voted against the resolution, the Democratic Party (DS) and the United Regions of Serbia (URS) backed the document, while the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) abstained from voting.

Screenshot video Tanjug, illustration