EPP launches internal review of Serbian Progressive Party

The European People’s Party (EPP) announced that it has initiated an internal review of the “role” of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) within the largest European political grouping, CE Report quotes HINA.

“The EPP Presidency has today tasked Secretary-General Dolors Montserrat and Vice-President Kostis Hatzidakis to lead an internal EPP review process regarding the role of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) within the EPP,” the group said in a statement.

“This is not an official legal procedure for suspension or expulsion, but a thorough and swift internal investigation with transparent results,” the statement continued, noting that the EPP will remain in contact with all stakeholders, including the leadership of the party that currently governs Serbia.

SNS, a party founded in 2008 by Tomislav Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić following a split from the Serbian Radical Party, has been an EPP member since 2016, according to the official website of the party.

The EPP is the dominant political group on the continent — in the European Parliament, chaired by Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola, it holds 188 out of 720 seats.

From within the EPP, which also includes the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), come 13 European Commission commissioners, including President Ursula von der Leyen. The People’s Party also leads several governments across Europe, including in Germany, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Austria, and Cyprus.