Djuric Defends Kozarev in Diaspora Voting Dispute
Kreni-Promeni says Foreign Ministry Secretary General Dusan Kozarev ordered obstruction of diaspora voting, citing cases from Berlin, Ljubljana and Munich. Djuric rejects the accusations.
The movement Kreni-Promeni published new, specific examples on the evening of September 22 of what it calls obstruction of voting by Serbian citizens abroad, a day after it first publicly accused Foreign Ministry Secretary General Dusan Kozarev of verbally ordering such conduct. The claims come amid preparations for the early parliamentary election set for October 25, with the deadline for citizens abroad to register to vote expiring at midnight on October 3.
Foreign Minister in the caretaker government Marko Djuric rejected the accusations on September 21, the same day the movement first raised its claim about Kozarev.
Kozarev Under Fire, Djuric Stands By Him
Kozarev is Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Serbian Progressive Party’s Main Board. According to Kreni-Promeni, he verbally ordered obstruction of the opening of polling stations in the diaspora, with particular focus on the United States and Germany, the countries with the largest numbers of Serbian citizens abroad. Djuric backed him on X.
“It takes a great deal of work, effort and time to build trust in institutions, and very little to tear it down. That is why I condemn any attempt to sow unrest and distrust among our citizens abroad and to deepen divisions further for selfish, political gain,” Djuric wrote.
Cases From Berlin, Ljubljana and Munich
On the evening of September 22, the movement presented examples naming cities but not the individuals who filed them. In Berlin, the embassy received requests from three people on September 10; a female citizen repeated hers on September 16 and additionally sent documentation by registered mail, and according to her, no response has come since. In Ljubljana, several citizens sent requests on September 13, 15 and 19 without any confirmation of receipt. A woman in Munich says she registered the same way she had for previous elections, but the consulate told her she was reportedly not on the voter list; after she sent proof to the contrary, the consulate promised an additional check. Complaints are also arriving from North America, from the United States and Canada, where citizens likewise report getting no answers to their inquiries.
On September 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published guidance on its website titled “Elections: Registering to Vote Abroad.” The key deadlines are:
- a request filed through a diplomatic-consular mission no later than midnight on October 3
- the single voter list closes at midnight on October 9
- city and municipal administrations are legally required to decide on each request within 24 hours, according to Danas
Serbia Center Demands Answers From the Ministry
The Serbia Center (SRCE) party asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 21 whether unlawful instructions had been issued to diplomatic-consular missions. The party notes that from the official calling of the election on September 9 to the October 3 deadline, only 18 working days remain for registration.
“We are asking whether it is true that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs currently has unlawful instructions in place for diplomatic-consular missions (DCMs), instructing them to further narrow this already minimal voting period, given that obstructions to voter registration are being announced,” SRCE said in its statement.
The party says it will pursue legal action, arguing that “the state is obligated to enable citizens living abroad to exercise their right to vote under the same conditions as citizens living in Serbia.”
Kreni-Promeni made a similar point. “Serbia belongs to the people who live outside its borders too. No one has the right to make it harder for them to exercise their voting right through administrative obstruction,” the movement said in a statement on September 21. A day later, it added a shorter message with the same meaning, saying the voting rights of Serbian citizens, as it put it, “do not stop at the state border.”
Does the Election Commission Have to Open New Polling Stations?
Opening new polling stations in the diaspora is a separate matter from individual registration, with a different threshold. Zoran Alimpic, a member of the Belgrade City Election Commission, said on September 21 on N1 that the legal minimum for opening a new polling station is 100 registered voters, but that the Republic Election Commission is still not obligated to open one even then, since the decision is made by majority vote.
“The authorities are well aware that most of the people registering now, who did not register for previous elections, are not their voters,” Alimpic said.
He noted that polling stations in Serbia exist with fewer than 100 voters, so the threshold itself guarantees nothing, and the decision depends on the Republic Election Commission’s assessment of how many of its own voters are at a given location. In his view, additional polling stations abroad will likely not be opened.
Our outlet previously reported that the deadline for requesting a new polling station abroad is September 24, a day before Alimpic spoke about the 100-signature threshold. That request is separate from individual voter registration, whose deadline is October 3, and it is precisely the gap between these two deadlines and thresholds that lies at the center of the dispute between the Foreign Ministry and opposition figures.
As of the closing of the single voter list at midnight on October 9, the ministry had not announced any change to its guidance, nor had it directly answered SRCE’s question about the alleged instructions to diplomatic-consular missions.
