Serbia second in Europe for electoral violence risk, behind Russia: Kofi Annan Foundation

Serbia faces a high risk of electoral violence, ranking second in Europe only to Russia, according to the latest Electoral Vulnerability Index report by the Kofi Annan Foundation. Serbia's score of 48.8 is nearly five times the average of 10.2 recorded for EU, EEA, and candidate countries. The model estimates an 89.6% probability of some form of electoral violence occurring, with the likelihood of the most severe forms estimated at around 8%. This places Serbia significantly above other European nations, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ranks third. The report highlights that outside of Russia and Serbia, the risk of severe electoral violence in the rest of Europe is negligible. Pavle Dimitrijević, director of legal affairs at Crta, noted that violent incidents have unfortunately become a recurring feature of elections in Serbia. He pointed to recent local elections where intense violence, particularly in Bor, Kula, and Bajina Bašta, overshadowed other reported issues. Dimitrijević stated that the increasing frequency of physical attacks, threats, and the presence of organized groups intimidating voters, journalists, and observers are not met with adequate police responses. He emphasized that the risk of violence is linked to impunity for perpetrators of election-related crimes. The report also identifies factors contributing to this volatile environment, including a media landscape filled with disinformation and propaganda, voter pressure, vote-buying, manipulation of voter lists, and repression of citizens protesting against the government.

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But, observing several cycles of local elections in the past year, we have pointed out to the public the worrying tendency for violence to become a dominant feature of elections.