EP drafts resolution condemning Šešelj

EP drafts resolution condemning Šešelj

STRASBOURG -- The European parliament strongly condemns Vojislav Šešelj's hate speech and invites Serbian authorities to resolutely distance themselves from his statements.

It is written in a draft resolution that should be put up for a vote on Thursday, November 27.

"The EP strongly condemns the hate speech of Vojislav Šešelj and the insults toward the victims of the war in former Yugoslavia, including his shameful statement on the day of remembrance for the victims of Vukovar," says the draft version of the document, to which Tanjug said it had access.

The EP will, according to the draft, ask the Serbian government to distance itself from the statements of the leader of the Radicals (SRS) in which he calls for the redrawing of borders in the Balkans and his derogatory talk about other nations and their representatives.

It is still not know what the final draft of the resolution will look like. Last week, at the request of Croatian MEPs, it was introduced to the agenda of the plenary session of the EP in Strasbourg in urgent procedure. It has been the subject of intensive consultations of parliamentary groups during the past several days.

One of the things that has not yet been agreed on is "the formulation of the criticism of the Hague Tribunal," which decided to release Šešelj after holding him in detention for 12 years. His release is provisional and came while the verdict in his case is still pending. The court did not impose a ban on Šešelj's political activity as a condition.

While some MEPs want to criticize the tribunal for its poor handling of the case, others noted that the European parliament previously wholeheartedly supported its work,...