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Congressman Keating Tells N1: Serbia Bill Sends Message to Vučić That Democracy and Media Freedom Matter to US Ties
🇷🇸 Serbia /Elections & Politics

Congressman Keating Tells N1: Serbia Bill Sends Message to Vučić That Democracy and Media Freedom Matter to US Ties

From N1 Serbia · () Serbian

Translated from Serbian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • US Congressman Bill Keating said a bipartisan Serbia bill signals that democratic governance, the rule of law, media freedom and free elections are central to US-Serbia relations.
  • Keating said Congress would not support another round of the US-Serbia Strategic Dialogue unless those issues are addressed.
  • He also called on Serbia to do more to counter the influence of Russia, China and Iran.

A bipartisan bill in the US Congress is intended to send a direct message to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić: Washington wants democracy, media freedom and fair elections treated as central to the relationship.

This bill sends a strong signal to President Vučić about the state of US-Serbia relations and shows that the key pillars connecting the American and Serbian peoples, democratic governance, the rule of law, media freedom and free and fair elections, are essential to strengthening those relations.

— Bill KeatingKeating described the democratic principles he said should guide US-Serbia relations.

Bill Keating, the leading Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Europe, said the measure reflects the principles that connect the American and Serbian peoples. He named democratic governance, the rule of law, media freedom, and free and fair elections as essential to strengthening bilateral ties.

“This bill sends a strong signal to President Vučić about the state of US-Serbia relations and shows that the key pillars connecting the American and Serbian peoples, democratic governance, the rule of law, media freedom and free and fair elections, are essential to strengthening those relations,” Keating said.

This bill makes clear that Congress will not support a new round of the Dialogue unless these issues are addressed.

— Bill KeatingHe said Congress would condition support for another round of the US-Serbia Strategic Dialogue on progress on democracy-related issues.

Keating said he had expressed concern since President Donald Trump took office that the US-Serbia Strategic Dialogue had given insufficient attention to those issues. He said the bill makes Congress’s position explicit: “This bill makes clear that Congress will not support a new round of the Dialogue unless these issues are addressed.”

I also believe that Serbia must do more to combat the influence of Russia, China and Iran, and this bill reminds the Serbian government that the US Congress is closely watching developments in the region.

— Bill KeatingKeating called for stronger Serbian efforts against the influence of the three countries.

He also said Serbia needed to do more to resist the influence of Russia, China and Iran, adding that Congress was closely watching developments in the region. Keating thanked Republican Congressman Joe Wilson for leading the bipartisan effort, highlighting the measure’s cross-party support.

I appreciate Congressman Wilson’s leadership on this bipartisan bill.

— Bill KeatingKeating thanked Republican Congressman Joe Wilson for his role in the legislation.
About this summary

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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