EU lawmakers seek an investigation into Serbia vote fraud allegations with an eye to freezing funds

European Union lawmakers are calling for an independent investigation into allegations of vote-rigging in Serbia

BRUSSELS -- European Union lawmakers called on Thursday for an independent investigation into allegations of vote-rigging in Serbia and demanded that EU funds be cut off if the authorities in Belgrade fail to cooperate with the inquiry or are found to be implicated in election irregularities.

The governing Serbian Progressive party of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić won the Dec. 17 parliamentary and municipal elections, securing 129 seats in the 250-seat assembly. The opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition finished a distant second with 65 seats.

A vote-monitoring mission set up by international rights watchdogs said in a preliminary report that the polls were “marred by harsh rhetoric, bias in the media, pressure on public sector employees and misuse of public resources.”

Serious irregularities included alleged cases of vote-buying and ballot box stuffing, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which aren't part of the EU, and the European Parliament.

In a resolution, passed in a 461-53 vote with 43 abstentions, the lawmakers noted with “serious concern” that evidence collected by observers showed that irregularities “may have critically impacted” voting results, notably in the capital Belgrade, and “undermined the legitimacy” of the polls.