Question for written answer E-001959-19
to the Commission
Rule 130
Ruža Tomašić (ECR)

Freedom of movement for EU citizens guarantees the right to move and reside within the territory of Member States, subject to the restrictions and conditions set out in the Treaties.

If their home country successfully concludes the negotiations with the EU and becomes a fully fledged Member State, Serbian nationals will enjoy free movement in the same way as any other EU citizens.

In my capacity as an MEP I have for years been drawing attention to the fact that the Serbian Government is shielding persons who were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina; it gives them new identities and stages sham trials.

One typical example is Veselin Šljivančanin, who has never been held to account for what testimonies describe as his personal responsibility for the execution of Croatian prisoners of war, wounded people from Vukovar Hospital, and civilians at Ovčara; and this is in spite of the fact that the Hague court sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Regarding the change recently proposed by Commissioner Hahn, whereby enlargement policy matters would, for the most part, be dealt with by qualified majority vote, does the Commission realise that if Serbia is let off lightly when it comes to punishing war crimes, the worst war criminals will be able to move completely freely through the Member States and our present shared space for free movement will consequently be turned into a vast open range for war criminals who have still not been brought to justice?