30 Amendments of Jozo RADOŠ related to 2016/2311(INI)
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas process of privatisation of the media in Serbia has led to the concentration of the ownerships of the media, specially endangering media and programs in minority languages;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the opening of negotiations on Chapters 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) as the key chapters in the EU approach to enlargement based on the rule of law; welcomes the opening of Chapters 32 (Financial Control) and 35 (Other Issues), the opening of negotiations on Chapter 5 (Public Procurement) and the opening and provisional closure of Chapter 25 (Science and Research); calls on the Council to open Chapter 26 (Education and Culture) and stresses its importance in the process of promoting European values among the young generation;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the continued engagement of Serbia on the path of integration into the EU and its constructive and well-prepared approach to the negotiations, which is a clear sign of determination and political will; calls on Serbiagovernment to actively promote this strategic decision among the Serbian population; is concerned about anti-EU messages towards public from members of ruling party and government directed media broadcasters, which steam anti-EU sentiments and are clearly populist instruments;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomesNotes that the conduct of the parliamentary elections on 24 April 2016 which were assessed positively by the international observerswere in general conducted in line with the law; calls on the authorities to fully address the recommendations of the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on Serbia to align its foreign and security policy with that of the EU, including its policy on Russia; is concerned about Serbia's continuing military cooperation with Russia, including procurement of strategic arms and joint military exercises in vicinity of the EU borders; welcomes Serbia’s important contribution to and continued participation in international peacekeeping operations;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Commends Serbia’s constructive approach in dealing with the migration crisis; notes however, that constructive approach with neighbouring countries regarding migration should be fostered; takes positive note of the fact that Serbia has made substantial efforts to ensure that third country nationals receive shelter and humanitarian supplies with EU and international support; stresses that Serbia should adopt and implement the new asylum law; calls on the Commission and the Council to provide continued support for Serbia in addressing migration challenges; encourages Serbia to ensure that the downward trend in the number of asylum seekers coming into the EU from Serbia continues; is concerned about the fact that high percentage of asylum seekers from Serbia is from Roma population;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the Commission to continue the work on migration related issues with all the countries of the Western Balkans, in order to ensure that European and international norms and standards are followed; welcomes the work done so far and underlines that adequate IPA funding should be set aside to this end;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that, while some progress has been made in the area relating to the judiciary, in particular by taking steps to harmonise jurisprudence and further promoting a merit-based recruitment system, judicial independence is not assured in practice; regrets that the constitutional and legislative framework is not yet in line with European standards thus leaving scope for undue political influence in the recruitment and appointment of judges; stresses that the quality and efficiency of the judiciary and access to justice remain undermined by an uneven distribution of the workload, a burdensome case backlog and the lack of a free legal aid system;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that, while some progress has been made in the area relating to the judiciary, in particular by taking steps to harmonise jurisprudence and further promoting a merit-based recruitment system, judicial independence is not assured in practice, which prevents judges and prosecutors from implementing the adopted legislation; stresses that the quality and efficiency of the judiciary and access to justice remain undermined by an uneven distribution of the workload, a burdensome case backlog and the lack of a free legal aid system;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Notes that public enterprises remain particularly vulnerable to corruption; urges the further development of independent supervision for the detection of potential cases of conflicts of interest in the management of state-owned companies, in privatization procedures, public-private partnerships and in relation to strategic investment partnerships; stresses that the excessive recourse to the provision on abuse of office in the private sector in the criminal code is harmful to the business climate and hampers legal certainty;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the progress made in the fight against organised crime andNotes the adoption of Serbia’s first national serious and organise crime threat assessment (SOCTA); is concerned about the rise of mafia murders and lack of credible investigations; calls on Serbia to step up efforts to investigate wider criminal networks, improve financial investigations and intelligence-led policing and develop a solid track record of final convictions; has taken note of the controversialstrongly condemns events in Belgrade’s Savamala district and calls for their swift resolu, deplores police' refusal to provide citizens with protection during that night and authorities' refusal to carry out thorough investigation, and disclose and punish the culprits; calls for swift resolution of the investigation;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Expresses concern over the failure of the authorities to bring to justice the organizers and perpetrators of the unlawful demolition of properties in the Belgrade Savamala district on 24 April 2016; underlines that the authorities must carry out thorough investigations and bring those responsible to justice;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Recalls that Serbia criminalised already in 2014 the activity of foreign fighters in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2178(2014); urges the adoption of the national strategy to prevent and fight terrorism finalised in March 2016;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Calls on the authorities to ensure fair and free elections in April 2017 and, in this respect, to swiftly implement the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations following the elections in 2014 and 2016; is particularly concerned about smear campaigns against some opposition figures and presidential candidates, which have undermined democratic standards and procedures;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates the importance of independent regulatory bodies, including the Ombudsmaperson, in ensuring oversight and accountability of the executive and notes authorities' frequent disregard for its recommendations; calls on the authorities to provide the Ombudsmaperson with full political and administrative support for his work; calls on authorities to follow up on its recommendations on illegal data collection by the Military Intelligence Agency on political parties' activities;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates the importance of independent regulatory bodies, including the Ombudsman, in ensuring oversight and accountability of the executive; calls on the authorities to provide the Ombudsman with full political and administrative support for his work; notes with regret that the Ombudsman is constantly exposed to severe verbal attacks by leading government officials;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines that the legislative and institutional framework for observance of international human rights law is mostly in place; calls on authorities to adopt Law on the Protection of Rights and Liberties of Persons with Mental Disabilities, Law on Registered Same-Sex Civil Partnerships and Law on Gender Identity without delay; stresses that consistent implementation across the whole country is needed; notes that further sustained efforts are needed to improve the situation of persons belonging to vulnerable groups, includingespecially persons with disabilities, Roma people, persons with HIV/AIDS and LGBTI persons; expresses concern on the number of unprosecuted attacks on the members of vulnerable groups, especially Roma and LGBTI; expresses its concern about the discriminatory provisions in the draft Law on Rights of Civilian Victims of war which excludes a number of groups of victims of violence during the conflicts; calls on the authorities to urgently revise this key piece of legislation on transitional justice in consultation with human rights organisations and victims' associations;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Reiterates its concern that no progress has been made to improve the situation regarding freedom of expression and of the media; stresses that threats, violence and intimidation against journalists aremain an increased in regards to 2015 and are an urgent issue of concern; calls on the authorities to investigate, and develop a solid track record of final convictions, any cases of attacks against journalists and media outlets; calls for the full implementation of media laws; underlines the need for complete transparency in media ownership and funding of mediaondemns pro-government tabloid media which started publishing information clearly obtained from the Security Information Agency and other confidential sources (bank statements) in order to intensify smear campaign against independent investigative journalists and their media (KRIK, BIRN, CINS); calls for the full implementation of media laws; underlines the need for complete transparency in media ownership, privatisation of media outlets ended in a majority of cases with the representatives or 'sympathisers' of political parties becoming new media owners, and funding of media, as present state of play undermines media independence and is conducive to self- censorship; is concerned that most of the state-funded pro-government media turned into government's political tool used to influence public opinion and exert a political pressure on independent media's, journalists, CSOs and human right defenders through smear campaigns;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Condemns government's and government managed media's negative campaign towards CSOs; is concerned about governmental setting up of fictitious CSOs institutions in opposition to independent CSOs; finds unacceptable that partnership with the government is needed for successful application to IPA funds by CSO's;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Invites Serbian government to fully implement all international treaties concerning minority rights such as agreement with Republic of Croatia from 2005 on protection of rights of Croatian national minority in Serbia; calls on the authorities to protect existing media and programs in minority languages during the process of privatisation;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. WelcomNotes the adoption of the new Roma social inclusion strategy 2016-2025, which covers education, health, housing and employment; calls for the full and swift implementation of the new strategy for Roma inclusion, as they are the weakest, most marginalised and discriminated group in Serbia, urgent adoption of the action plan and an establishment of the body for coordination of implementation of the action plan; condemns demolishing of informal Roma settlements by the authorities, without notification or offering of alternative accommodation; is extremely concerned about the non-issuance of personal documents to Roma people, that restricts theirs fundamental rights; is of opinion that all mentioned leads to high percentage of asylum seekers in the EU from Roma people in Serbia;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the fact that Serbia remains constructively committed to bilateral relations with other enlargement countries and neighbouring EU Member States; hHas taken positive note of the fact that Serbia has shown an increasingly constructive engagement in regional cooperation initiatives such as the South- East Europe Cooperation Process, the Regional Cooperation Council, the Central European Free Trade Agreement, the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, the Brdo process, the Western Balkan Six initiative and its connectivity agenda and the Berlin process; calls on Serbia to implement the connectivity reform measures associated with the connectivity agenda and the conclusion of 2016 Paris conference on Western Balkans and TEN-T regulation in order to ensure the implementation of planned transport network projects; underlines that resolution of outstanding bilateral disputes shwould not have a detrimentalpositive effect on the accession process; welcomes the adoption of a national strategy for the investigation and prosecution of war crimes; notes that the mandate of the former War Crimes Prosecutor expired in December 2015; stresses that the appointment of his successor is a matter of serious concern; calls for the implementation of this strategy and the adoption of an operational prosecutorial strategy; calls for full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); urges the authorities to continue working on the issue of the fate of missing persons;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Calls on authorities to promote a climate of tolerance and to condemn all forms of hate speech, public approval and denial of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes through amendments of the Criminal Code; calls for effective investigation of high-profile war crimes cases; calls for improving regional cooperation in war crime cases;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20 b. Reiterates its support for the initiative to establish the Regional commission for the establishment of facts about war crimes and other serious violations of human rights committed in the former Yugoslavia (RECOM) and urges the government of Serbia to take the lead on its establishment;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 c (new)
Paragraph 20 c (new)
20 c. Condemns medaling of the high- profile war crimes suspect by the President of Serbia and greeting and praising the ICTY convict for crimes against humanity by government officials; condemns rehabilitation of WW2 war criminal Draža Mihajlović;
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 d (new)
Paragraph 20 d (new)
20 d. Condemns interference of President of Serbia in internal politics of BiH, especially undermining BiH's sovereignty and institutions by celebrating unconstitutionally proclaimed day of RS in BiH entity Republika Srpska, as well as supporting succession plans of leadership of RS;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Regrets the presence of the President of Serbia, along with other senior government officials, at the so called "Republika Srpska Day", a celebration which has been declared unconstitutional by BiH´s Supreme Court; calls on the Serbian authorities to support constitutional reforms in BiH in order to strengthen the country´s capacity to function and carry out EU accession talks; underlines that the unequivocal and principled condemnation of war crimes committed in the region is the cornerstone of regional stability and essential for EU integration; reiterates its call on government officials to refrain from gestures such as publicly endorsing individuals convicted for war crimes;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22 b. Notes that a non-authorized train, covered with Serbian political and religious symbols and launched by the director of Serbia´s 'Office for Kosovo and Metohija', was scheduled to travel from Belgrade to Kosovska Mitrovica on 14 January 2017 and was stopped by Kosovar authorities; expresses deep concern over this incident and over the inflammatory rhetoric of Serbia´s highest ranking politicians linked thereto; underlines that similar gestures cannot be justified by the upcoming elections in Serbia and can seriously jeopardize the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina; urges both the Serbian and Kosovar authorities to refrain from hostile actions and statements which could hamper the normalisation process;
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on Serbia to fully implement the connectivity reform measures in the energy sector; encourages Serbiais concerned that Serbia installed parallel management at the Gazivode/Ujmani hydropower plant in Kosovo and continuous to interfere in its operation with a risk to water management; encourages Serbia to to fully unbundle Srbijagas and to take steps to develop competition in the gas market and to take measuresand electricity market and to improve alignment with the acquis in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy; calls on authorities to use additional EU funding of €50 million for developing the region's hydropower potential and energy efficiency in residential buildings in a transparent manner; commends Serbia for establishing the financing system for the environment via the Green Fund; notes with regret that there are no safeguards ensuring that the Fund's resources will be spent on environmental measures; calls on the authorities to improve the structure of the Fund so that appropriate safeguards are put in place;