Serbian constitutional referendum, 2006
Encyclopedia
A referendum on a proposed draft of the new Serbian constitution
was held on October 28 and 29 October 2006 and has resulted in the draft constitution being approved by the Serbian electorate
. The constitution is Serbia's first as an independent state since the Kingdom of Serbia
's 1903 constitution. Over 6.6 million people were entitled to vote in the national referendum.
was President of Serbia
. When he was ousted
on October 5, 2000, one of pre-election promises of the new Democratic Opposition of Serbia
coalition government was to adopt a new constitution. That did not occur, however, as the coalition soon fell apart following disputes between the President of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Koštunica
, and the Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Đinđić, which ended with Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia
leaving the government of Serbia
, dominated by Đinđić's Democratic Party
.
The 1990 constitution contained several anachronism
s, such as a provision for "social property", which was neither privately nor state owned. Also, it significantly reduced the level of autonomy
of Serbia's two provinces (Vojvodina
and Kosovo
), which had been introduced in the Tito
ist constitution of 1974. It required a two-thirds majority in parliament and a qualified majority of 50% of the electorate to be changed. Koštunica advocated that the change of constitution be in accordance with the constitution of 1990, while many other parties suggested the provisions for constitutional change be ignored, advocating elections for a Constitutional parliament.
Following Đinđić's assassination in March 2003, general election
was held in December 2003, which resulted in Koštunica becoming Prime Minister. At the same time, the Serbian Radical Party
experienced a revival and became the single largest party in parliament, but it was excluded from government. The adoption of a new constitution was again delayed due to various compromises and a reluctance to tackle the problem.
The issue was revisited in 2005, when the teams selected by President
Boris Tadić
and the Government
presented their drafts of the constitution to the public. In June 2006 Serbia became an independent state when Montenegro
decided to put an end to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
at a referendum
, making a new constitution urgent. The Kosovo status talks
also necessitated the quick adoption of a new constitution which would affirm Serbian desires to keep the province under its sovereignty, in accordance with international law and UN Security Council
Resolution #1244
.
On October 1, 2006, followed by short negotiations among the largest parliamentary parties, the Parliament of Serbia unanimously adopted the draft of the new Constitution, with 242 MPs voting in favour. The other eight were not present. The draft was result of a compromise among the key political parties. Some considered the way in which it had been drawn up to be fairly untransparent, and the result of political horse-trading. In the preamble
, a statement that "Kosovo is an autonomous province of Serbia with significant autonomy" was included. It was decided that the constitutional referendum was to be held on October 28 and October 29.
All major political parties supported the draft and began a public campaign
for the referendum. The only political bloc that campaigned against the draft and advocated public boycott
was a group of liberal
and social-democrat parties (Čedomir Jovanović
's Liberal Democratic Party, Nenad Čanak
's League of Vojvodina Social Democrats, Žarko Korać
's Social Democratic Union
, Nataša Mićić
's Civic Alliance of Serbia
) and a number of NGOs. They objected to the lack of public discussion, argued that the claims to Kosovo in the preamble were a populist attempt to encourage the voters. Some were also dissatisfied with the level of autonomy given to Vojvodina
.. (On the 2007 election
, those parties formed the coalition and entered the Parliament with about 5.3% support).
Kosovo
is defined as an "integral part" of Serbia
with "fundamental autonomy". Also, it defines Serbia as an independent state for the first time since 1918. In addition, it makes Cyrillic
the only alphabet for official use, while making provisions for minority languages to be used at the local level.
Differences between the new constitution and that adopted in 1990:
Several international law
experts and independent analysts pointed out that the new article 16, which states that all international treaties must comply with the provisions of the constitution, sets up an inherent conflict, and can present an obstacle to the country's accession to European Union
.
Another obstacle was how to ensure the constitutional limit of 50% of registered voters. Republic Election Commission (RIK) placed the total number of electors at 6,639,385—that excluded Kosovo Albanians
, who have been boycotting all Serbian elections and censuses since 1990. Critics pointed that it's hypocritical to exclude Albanian voters from the balloting about the document which states that Kosovo is part of Serbia. Political analyst Vladimir Goati said that "It is pointless to state that they are not on the voter list, because they are boycotting all Serbian elections. If you recognize someone as a citizen of your country, then you cannot take away his or her right to boycott." ; however, the practice of excluding Kosovo Albanians has been adopted in several elections before. Also, opponents of the constitution pointed out that the decision of the Republic Election Commission that potential extra amount of ballots will be ignored was unlawful and outrageous..
According to preliminary counts published by the Republic Election Commission, 51.46% of the electorate (95.9% of those voting) supported the constitution, with 50% support needed for it to come into effect. The voter turnout
amounted to 53.66%. The turnout of registered voters in Kosovo reached 90.1%, Albanians in Southern Serbia (Kosovo and Metohia) who constitute the majority of population in these areas ignored the referendum. The turnout in Vojvodina was also low (45.9%) , as several regional parties and NGOs called for a boycott, stating that the degree of the province's autonomy was insufficient.
Opponents of the referendum point to the fact that the timing of the turnout was peculiar: after the first day of voting, the turnout was only 18.03%, and on Sunday morning it started rising slowly, reaching 46% at 5PM.. Then, in the last three hours of voting, the turnout rose to around 53%. The Speaker of the Vojvodina provincial assembly, Bojan Kostreš
, accused the authorities of "forcing the new constitution". "The final voting hours were very strange, with a sudden, steep rise in turnout", he said.. Several political analysts pointed out that similar scenarios have happened before; analyst Đorđe Vukadinović stated that "...the turnout of three to five percent per hour has been reached on several occasions in the past ten years." , while many commentators also pointed out that non-stop public messages on TV urging people to vote, the appearance of Patriarch Pavle voting on a TV broadcast, and an increase in awareness about the problems that would occur if the referendum failed, may also have played the role in increasing turnout.
The final results of the referendum were declared by the Republic Election Commission on 2 November 2006: voter turnout amounted to 3,645,517, or 54.91% of the electorate (totally 6,639,385 citizens), of which 25,866 votes were declared invalid and thus the final valid figure of 3,619,221 votes published. The new constitution was supported by 3,521,724 voters, or 53.04% of the electorate and 96.60% of those voting; 97,497 voters (1.47% of those registered and 2.67% of those voting) were against the new constitution; 25,866 votes were invalid.
.
Despite the drawbacks, the European Union
and OSCE endorsed the proposed changes. Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman of EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
, stated that "[The EU] positively assesses the fact that Serbia is changing the Constitution from the time of Slobodan Milošević
".
Constitution of Serbia
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia is Serbia's fundamental law. The current constitution was approved in a constitutional referendum, held from on 28–29 October 2006...
was held on October 28 and 29 October 2006 and has resulted in the draft constitution being approved by the Serbian electorate
Electorate
Electorate may refer to:* voters, people entitled to vote in an election* electoral district or constituency, the geographic area of a particular election* The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire...
. The constitution is Serbia's first as an independent state since the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
's 1903 constitution. Over 6.6 million people were entitled to vote in the national referendum.
Background
The previous Constitution of Serbia was adopted in 1990, when Slobodan MiloševićSlobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
was President of Serbia
President of Serbia
The President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:...
. When he was ousted
5th October Overthrow
A series of events occurred in 2000 in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, following the presidential elections and culminating in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's regime on 5 October 2000...
on October 5, 2000, one of pre-election promises of the new Democratic Opposition of Serbia
Democratic Opposition of Serbia
The Democratic Opposition of Serbia was a wide alliance of political parties in Serbia , formed as a coalition against the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and its leader, Slobodan Milošević in 2000...
coalition government was to adopt a new constitution. That did not occur, however, as the coalition soon fell apart following disputes between the President of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian politician, statesman and the president of the Democratic Party of Serbia. He was the last President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, succeeding Slobodan Milošević and serving from 2000 to 2003...
, and the Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Đinđić, which ended with Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia
Democratic Party of Serbia
The Democratic Party of Serbia is a political party in Serbia.-Foundation:The Democratic Party of Serbia was founded when a faction of the Democratic Party that supported its involvement in the Democratic Movement of Serbia split from the party and formed their own in 1992.Soon after the March...
leaving the government of Serbia
Government of Serbia
Officially the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the executive branch of government in Serbia.-Current government:The current government was elected on 7 July 2008 by the majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia and restructured on 14 March 2011...
, dominated by Đinđić's Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Serbia)
The Democratic Party is a political party in Serbia. It is described as a social liberal or social democratic party.-Pre-war history:The Democratic Party was established on 16 February 1919 from unification of Sarajevo parties independent radicals, progressives, liberals and the Serbian part of...
.
The 1990 constitution contained several anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
s, such as a provision for "social property", which was neither privately nor state owned. Also, it significantly reduced the level of autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
of Serbia's two provinces (Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
and Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
), which had been introduced in the Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
ist constitution of 1974. It required a two-thirds majority in parliament and a qualified majority of 50% of the electorate to be changed. Koštunica advocated that the change of constitution be in accordance with the constitution of 1990, while many other parties suggested the provisions for constitutional change be ignored, advocating elections for a Constitutional parliament.
Following Đinđić's assassination in March 2003, general election
Serbian parliamentary election, 2003
Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on December 28, 2003. The Republic of Serbia then was one of the two federal units of Serbia and Montenegro, formerly known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
was held in December 2003, which resulted in Koštunica becoming Prime Minister. At the same time, the Serbian Radical Party
Serbian Radical Party
The Serbian Radical Party is a far-right Serbian nationalist political party in Serbia, founded in 1991. Currently the second-largest party in the Serbian National Assembly, it has branches in three of the nations that currently border Serbia – all former federal republics of Yugoslavia...
experienced a revival and became the single largest party in parliament, but it was excluded from government. The adoption of a new constitution was again delayed due to various compromises and a reluctance to tackle the problem.
The issue was revisited in 2005, when the teams selected by President
President of Serbia
The President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:...
Boris Tadić
Boris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...
and the Government
Government of Serbia
Officially the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the executive branch of government in Serbia.-Current government:The current government was elected on 7 July 2008 by the majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia and restructured on 14 March 2011...
presented their drafts of the constitution to the public. In June 2006 Serbia became an independent state when Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
decided to put an end to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro was a country in southeastern Europe, formed from two former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia : Serbia and Montenegro. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was established in 1992 as a federation called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
at a referendum
Montenegrin independence referendum, 2006
The Montenegrin independence referendum was a referendum on the independence of the Republic of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro that was held on 21 May 2006.The total turnout of the referendum was 86.5%...
, making a new constitution urgent. The Kosovo status talks
Constitutional status of Kosovo
The political status of Kosovo is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian government and Kosovo's largely ethnic-Albanian population, stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia at the end of the 20th century, and the ensuing Yugoslav wars...
also necessitated the quick adoption of a new constitution which would affirm Serbian desires to keep the province under its sovereignty, in accordance with international law and UN Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
Resolution #1244
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, adopted on June 10, 1999, after recalling resolutions 1160 , 1199 , 1203 and 1239 , authorised an international civil and military presence in Kosovo ) and established the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo .Resolution...
.
On October 1, 2006, followed by short negotiations among the largest parliamentary parties, the Parliament of Serbia unanimously adopted the draft of the new Constitution, with 242 MPs voting in favour. The other eight were not present. The draft was result of a compromise among the key political parties. Some considered the way in which it had been drawn up to be fairly untransparent, and the result of political horse-trading. In the preamble
Preamble
A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute...
, a statement that "Kosovo is an autonomous province of Serbia with significant autonomy" was included. It was decided that the constitutional referendum was to be held on October 28 and October 29.
All major political parties supported the draft and began a public campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
for the referendum. The only political bloc that campaigned against the draft and advocated public boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
was a group of liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and social-democrat parties (Čedomir Jovanović
Cedomir Jovanovic
Čedomir "Čeda" Jovanović is a Serbian politician and president of the Liberal Democratic Party .- Early life :...
's Liberal Democratic Party, Nenad Čanak
Nenad Canak
Nenad Čanak is a Serbian politician...
's League of Vojvodina Social Democrats, Žarko Korać
Žarko Korac
Professor Žarko Korać , Ph.D. is a Serbian psychologist and politician.He teaches psychology at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy and is one of the founders and president of the Social Democratic Union...
's Social Democratic Union
Social Democratic Union (Serbia)
The Social Democratic Union is a social democratic political party in Serbia.At the last legislative elections, on January 21, 2007, the party was a member of the LDP-GSS-SDU-LSV Coalition that won 15 seats....
, Nataša Mićić
Nataša Micic
Nataša Mićić is a Serbian politician. She is an MP in the Serbian parliament and the vice-president of the Liberal Democratic Party ....
's Civic Alliance of Serbia
Civic Alliance of Serbia
Civic Alliance of Serbia was a social-liberal party in Serbia.Known widely by its three-letter acronym in Serbian, GSS was founded and registered in 1992...
) and a number of NGOs. They objected to the lack of public discussion, argued that the claims to Kosovo in the preamble were a populist attempt to encourage the voters. Some were also dissatisfied with the level of autonomy given to Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
.. (On the 2007 election
Serbian parliamentary election, 2007
Parliamentary elections took place in Serbia on 21 January 2007. The first session of the new National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia was held on 14 February 2007....
, those parties formed the coalition and entered the Parliament with about 5.3% support).
The constitution
In the first article, Serbia is defined as a "state of the Serb people and all its citizens", and in the preamblePreamble
A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute...
Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
is defined as an "integral part" of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
with "fundamental autonomy". Also, it defines Serbia as an independent state for the first time since 1918. In addition, it makes Cyrillic
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
the only alphabet for official use, while making provisions for minority languages to be used at the local level.
Differences between the new constitution and that adopted in 1990:
- Only private, corporate and public property is acknowledged; social assets cease to exist and shall be transferred to private.
- Foreign citizens will be able to become owners of properties
- Reappointment of judges
- The PresidentPresident of SerbiaThe President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:...
is the Commander in Chief of the armyMilitary of SerbiaThe Serbian Armed Forces are the armed services of Serbia. They consist of the Serbian Army and the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence... - For the first time constitution mentions "European values and standards"
- Full independence is granted to the National Bank of SerbiaNational Bank of SerbiaNational Bank of Serbia is the central bank of Serbia; its main responsibilities are the protection of price stability and maintenance of financial stability....
- Decentralization process through granting ownership rights over municipal properties to local municipalities
- Vojvodina is granted economic autonomy
- Serbia has an official anthem, Bože pravdeBože pravde"Bože pravde" is the official anthem of Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the Constitution of Serbia. "Bože pravde" was the anthem of the Principality of Serbia and Kingdom of Serbia until 1918 when Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed. It was recommended by the Parliament of...
- Rights of consumers, mothers, children, minorities are specially protected
- Every citizen has the right to get information of public importance
- Marriage is defined as the "union of a man and a woman"
Controversy
While it was more or less universally accepted that the new constitution draft was a significant improvement over the 1990 constitution, the main objections of the public were directed at the untransparent way in which the draft was drawn up and approved by parliament. Even President Tadić acknowledged that "...I sense a certain uneasiness that we did not have a full public discussion about the constitution, due to the speed and pace at which it was seems to be adopted".Several international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
experts and independent analysts pointed out that the new article 16, which states that all international treaties must comply with the provisions of the constitution, sets up an inherent conflict, and can present an obstacle to the country's accession to European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Another obstacle was how to ensure the constitutional limit of 50% of registered voters. Republic Election Commission (RIK) placed the total number of electors at 6,639,385—that excluded Kosovo Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
, who have been boycotting all Serbian elections and censuses since 1990. Critics pointed that it's hypocritical to exclude Albanian voters from the balloting about the document which states that Kosovo is part of Serbia. Political analyst Vladimir Goati said that "It is pointless to state that they are not on the voter list, because they are boycotting all Serbian elections. If you recognize someone as a citizen of your country, then you cannot take away his or her right to boycott." ; however, the practice of excluding Kosovo Albanians has been adopted in several elections before. Also, opponents of the constitution pointed out that the decision of the Republic Election Commission that potential extra amount of ballots will be ignored was unlawful and outrageous..
Results
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
amounted to 53.66%. The turnout of registered voters in Kosovo reached 90.1%, Albanians in Southern Serbia (Kosovo and Metohia) who constitute the majority of population in these areas ignored the referendum. The turnout in Vojvodina was also low (45.9%) , as several regional parties and NGOs called for a boycott, stating that the degree of the province's autonomy was insufficient.
Opponents of the referendum point to the fact that the timing of the turnout was peculiar: after the first day of voting, the turnout was only 18.03%, and on Sunday morning it started rising slowly, reaching 46% at 5PM.. Then, in the last three hours of voting, the turnout rose to around 53%. The Speaker of the Vojvodina provincial assembly, Bojan Kostreš
Bojan Kostreš
Bojan Kostreš born August 25, 1974, Zrenjanin, province of Vojvodina, Serbia is a Vojvodinian politician of Serbian descent. The former president of the assembly of the Autonomous Serbian Province of Vojvodina. He is a vice-president of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina...
, accused the authorities of "forcing the new constitution". "The final voting hours were very strange, with a sudden, steep rise in turnout", he said.. Several political analysts pointed out that similar scenarios have happened before; analyst Đorđe Vukadinović stated that "...the turnout of three to five percent per hour has been reached on several occasions in the past ten years." , while many commentators also pointed out that non-stop public messages on TV urging people to vote, the appearance of Patriarch Pavle voting on a TV broadcast, and an increase in awareness about the problems that would occur if the referendum failed, may also have played the role in increasing turnout.
The final results of the referendum were declared by the Republic Election Commission on 2 November 2006: voter turnout amounted to 3,645,517, or 54.91% of the electorate (totally 6,639,385 citizens), of which 25,866 votes were declared invalid and thus the final valid figure of 3,619,221 votes published. The new constitution was supported by 3,521,724 voters, or 53.04% of the electorate and 96.60% of those voting; 97,497 voters (1.47% of those registered and 2.67% of those voting) were against the new constitution; 25,866 votes were invalid.
Reactions
The referendum and the text of the new Serbian Constitution have been sharply criticized by International Crisis GroupInternational Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world through field-based analyses and high-level advocacy.-History:...
.
Despite the drawbacks, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and OSCE endorsed the proposed changes. Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman of EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
Javier Solana
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, KOGF is a Spanish physicist and Socialist politician. After serving in the Spanish government under Felipe González and Secretary General of NATO , he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary...
, stated that "[The EU] positively assesses the fact that Serbia is changing the Constitution from the time of Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
".