Dragan Đilas: Halting European Integration Would Isolate Serbia — “Those Demanding It Don’t Know What They’re Talking About”

Dragan Đilas, first on the “Evropska Srbija” electoral list, said tonight at a pre-election rally that people calling for a halt to European integration “don’t know what they’re talking about” and that abandoning the European path would mean Serbia’s isolation, according to the newspaper Danas.

Đilas said he returned yesterday from the EU (Vienna) and joked that “they didn’t take his identity”. He criticized the state of Belgrade — “dirty, falling apart” — the lack of a metro, while betting shops open at every corner, as Danas reports. He stressed that his 30-year fight has been Serbia’s entry into the EU; abandoning the European path would mean: no projects from Europe, a Serbia dangerous for investment.

He also mentioned the Belivuk/Miljković case: they were arrested only after Europol and Eurojust provided the data — without European cooperation, organized crime cannot be fought. He promised, after a change of power, a special prosecutor, a law on the origin of property and the return of stolen assets — and asked: “how do we do this if we are not part of Europe and European countries don’t cooperate with us?”, Danas writes.

Srbija centra leader Zdravko Ponoš said that neither he nor his party are “Euro-fanatics”, but “Euro-realists” and support Serbia’s entry into the EU because it is in the interest of citizens and the national interest; “no one lost their national identity by entering the EU”. The main criticism of the government, according to him, is disrespect for the Constitution and the laws — “this is also the European path”.

MP candidate Slobodan Cvejić spoke about education: the two main things are the safety of children in schools and the curriculum they receive; school is the place where the state, parents and children meet. Candidate Vladimir Obradović said education is not only a matter of schools, but of how we see Serbia in 10–20 years: “if we want to import cheap labor and export our brightest minds, that is Vučić’s Serbia today”.