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Trials, investigations, indictments, and prosecutorial action.
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The European Commission published its annual rule-of-law report, covering EU member states and four candidate countries: Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. Its Serbia chapter cites political pressure on courts and prosecutors, unfinished work from the previous anti-corruption plan, problems with REM's functioning, and worsening journalist safety.
The Belgrade Appeals Court again annulled confirmation of the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor's indictment over the Novi Sad station canopy collapse that killed 16 people, returning the matter to the Belgrade Higher Court. This is separate from the Novi Sad proceeding, where the local Appeals Court recently confirmed an indictment.
Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić confirmed that they will enter the REM Council and take up work after parliament adopted an authentic interpretation of the Electronic Media Law on July 10. Under that interpretation, a resignation statement submitted before taking office is not a resignation under Article 18(4) and does not end the mandate.
In a July 12 post, the European Parliament linked Serbia's progress toward EU membership to rule-of-law reforms and stronger democratic standards. The same message described free and fair elections as necessary to resolve the political crisis and normalization of relations with Kosovo as a necessary step.
N1 reports that the Higher Court in Belgrade has lifted custody for former Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic and that he has already left Central Prison, meaning he will defend himself from freedom in the next phase. In N1's reporting and the lawyers' comments carried there, the case has narrowed to the failure-to-report branch around the killing of Aleksandar Nešović at restaurant 27 in Senjak, while critics tie the release to the fact that evidentiary actions on that branch are exhausted and that the investigation has already been seriously compromised.
N1 and Danas, citing RFE/RL, report that the Netherlands officially does not support opening Cluster 3 in Serbia's EU talks, while diplomatic sources say at least five member states oppose it. The main reasons are rule of law, Serbia's failure to sanction Russia, and the assessment that opening the cluster now would not be merit-based.
