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Serbian prosecutors said Tuesday they were investigating the country’s outgoing foreign minister and a dozen diplomats over alleged violations of voting rights in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
The organised crime prosecutor’s office said it had “immediately ordered police to gather information and conduct urgent checks.” It said it had initially opened cases after complaints against Aleksandar Nakic, Serbia’s ambassador to Slovakia, and Dragan Sutanovac, its ambassador to the United States.
Further criminal complaints targeted Serbia’s ambassadors to France, Romania, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Australia, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. They also named outgoing Foreign Minister Marko Djuric and three ministry employees. The complaints allege “abuse of office” and “violations of voting rights.”
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In the run-up to the vote, Serbians living abroad complained that polling stations had not opened in their areas. Many had to travel hundreds, or even thousands, of kilometres to cast a ballot.
More than 100,000 Serbians registered to vote abroad, nearly triple the number in the 2023 elections. The Electoral Commission ruled that voting abroad had to take place at the same time as in Serbia. As a result, some polling stations in the United States had to open at 1:00 am local time.
The vote ended President Aleksandar Vucic’s 14 years in power, with Serbia’s student-led protest movement scoring what was described as a seismic victory. Turnout reached a record 70 percent among the country’s 6.4 million registered voters.
The student movement began in late 2024 after the collapse of a railway station canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad. It grew into one of the largest anti-government protest campaigns in Serbia’s recent history, with demonstrators demanding accountability and early elections.
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