Serbian democracy activists feel betrayed as freedoms, and a path to the EU, slip away

By JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Associated Press

KRALJEVO, Serbia (AP) — When Serbia began talks to join the European Union in 2014, pro-Western Serbs were hopeful the process would set their troubled country on an irreversible path to democratization. A decade later, that optimism is gone, replaced by feelings of betrayal — both toward their government, which has slid toward autocracy, and the EU, which has done little to stop it. As Serbia goes to the polls on Dec. 17, pro-EU Serbs are disillusioned with the bloc. They say it should have done more to hold the authoritarian government in Belgrade to its stated democratic values.