The Kofi Annan Foundation has published a new edition of the Electoral Vulnerability Index, a report that assesses the risk of violence during electoral processes worldwide. According to this year’s report, Serbia ranks second in Europe for the risk of electoral violence, right behind Russia.
The electoral risk index for Serbia stands at 48.8, which is nearly five times higher than the average (10.2) for EU, EEA countries, and member state candidates.
The model estimates that there is an 89.6 per cent probability that some form of violence will occur during the electoral process, while the probability of the most severe forms of violence is estimated at around eight per cent, Danas reports.
Apart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which occupies third place with a slightly lower level of risk, other European countries record significantly lower values. The report highlights that, except in Russia and Serbia, the risk of the most severe forms of electoral violence in the rest of Europe is negligible.
“The risk of violence is linked to impunity”
The Director of Legal Affairs at Crta, Pavle Dimitrijević, said that “unfortunately, violent incidents have accompanied elections in Serbia for a long time.”
“However, looking at multiple cycles of local elections over the past year, we have pointed out a worrying tendency to the public that violence is becoming a dominant feature of elections. In Crta’s Election Day Report across 10 local government units (29 March 2026), it is stated that ‘due to the intensity of the violence, particularly in Bor, but also in Kula and Bajina Bašta, many other problems recorded even in areas where the situation was relatively calm were overshadowed,'” Pavle Dimitrijević recalls.
Increasingly frequent physical attacks and threats, the presence of organised groups intimidating voters, journalists, and observers, and the like, have not been met with an adequate police response – in too many cases, they fail to protect citizens and do not act against the perpetrators, he adds.
As he notes, given that the stakes are much higher for all participants in national elections, the fears sparked by such experiences at the local level are understandable.
“In general, the risk of violence is linked to the impunity that protects the perpetrators of various criminal offences related to the electoral process. The rise in violence is a consequence of the continuous decline in standards for the conditions under which elections are conducted in Serbia. The Kofi Annan Foundation’s analysis also cites a media landscape filled with disinformation and propaganda, pressure on voters and vote-buying, manipulation of the voter registry, and repression of citizens protesting against the government as factors creating potential for conflict,” Pavle Dimitrijević concludes.
(N1, 03.07.2026)
https://n1info.rs/vesti/fondacija-kofi-anan-srbija-izborno-nasilje/