“The Democratic Party continues to work against the interests of Serbia. Following the comments made in Brussels where disappointment was expressed over the fact that the international community failed to criticize Serbian authorities, and where accusations were levelled at the door of the authorities of alleged political violence and censorship, including overt vilification of the state that it had become the ground for Russia’s anti-European provocations, indicating as a proof of this the military parade staged “in Putin’s honour”, as they say, the Democratic Party has accused today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of jeopardizing the work of the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

Serbia as the Chair and the OSCE’s Permanent Council are only entitled to voice the positions on behalf of the OSCE, as an organization. Therefore, it is not possible for anyone else to make statements on behalf of the OSCE; they can only speak on their own behalf.

The OSCE Mission’s statement was released while its Head Burkhardt was away. His Deputy, who approved the release of the statement the day before, was at a meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the issue was not even raised. The Mission’s statement came as a surprise, because the state authorities have regular and good cooperation with it. For this reason, I proposed a meeting with the Head of the Mission next week.

This time again, the Democratic Party (DS) seems to regret that the international community has good cooperation with Serbia, that it highly values the ongoing reforms in Serbia, including its role in the region and Chairmanship of such an important organization as the OSCE.

I will recall how much criticism was levelled, both in and outside Serbia at the time DS was in power, regarding the relationship between the state authorities and independent institutions, including Ombudsman, Commissioners, Anti-Corruption Agency and Council, Serbian Broadcasting Agency, etc.

The Serbian Government respects independent institutions and fosters partner relations with international missions and organizations, while building a modern and developed country. However, no one should even dare to pass judgments about domestic matters. The authority to do so lies solely with the Serbian people”, says the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in his statement