Many members of the European Commission are "frustrated" by Serbia's backwardness on the European path and especially by the set of judicial laws known as "Mrdić's laws", say the interlocutors of "Vremen" in Brussels.
That is why, as they state, financial sanctions against Belgrade, i.e. freezing funds from European funds, are being considered most seriously.
For a long time, the important players in the European Union, as far as Serbia is concerned, have been divided into those who think that the policy should be tightened and work with some kind of financial penalties. Others still think that they should hesitate and be on better terms with the authorities of Aleksandar Vučić.
Mrdić as a code
Now those who think that Vučić's government has played cards and is not leading Serbia to the EU at all claim that the only language that Vučić understands is the denial of 1,5 billion euros from accession funds.
"A monument should be erected to Mrdić", they say jokingly, claiming that the controversial laws will break the European Commission and the member states to take a tougher stance towards the SNS authorities.
SNS MP Uglješa Mrdić was the formal proposer of a number of laws that are seen as an attack on the already damaged independence of the judiciary, especially on the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, which handles important cases concerning the General Staff and the Overhead.
However, everyone in Brussels is aware that the laws are only named after Mrdić out of charity, and that the idea came from President Aleksandar Vučić, who signed the laws without hesitation.
Vučić ready to withdraw the laws?
The sources of "Vremen" describe that the commissioner for expansion Marta Kos, when she heard about Mrdić's laws, "her face was as red as paprika".
Officially, her tone is of course somewhat softer. "We are increasingly worried about what is happening in Serbia," Kos recently told Politiko. "From laws that undermine the independence of the judiciary, to the crackdown on protesters and repeated interference in the work of independent media."
Vučić himself, in a guest appearance on RTS, said that Serbia will withdraw any law that does not pass the approval of the Venice Commission.
However, in informed circles in Brussels, they think that this is the last straw, so Serbia could be punished for the first time by not receiving EU taxpayers' money.
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