“WE PROPOSED FOUR POLLING STATIONS, BUT THE RIK APPROVED ONLY TWO”: Ambassador Stefanović Reveals How Serbs in Perth and Brisbane Were Left Without the Opportunity to Vote! (VIDEO)

***Serbia’s Ambassador to Canberra ***Rade Stefanović told the Australian portal SBS in Serbian that the embassy had proposed to the Ministry that four polling stations be opened, but that it was unable to influence the MFA’s decision to open only two.

In Australia, polling stations have been opened only in Melbourne and Sydney.

The ProGlas initiative issued a statement accusing the authorities and certain diplomatic and consular missions of obstructing diaspora voting ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 25, 2026. According to the initiative, the actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and ambassadors bear the characteristics of a criminal offense involving the unlawful prevention of voting at a polling station.

Alongside these reactions, official criminal complaints were filed with the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade against 12 state officials and ambassadors over the failure to open polling stations abroad.

“This is the first time polling stations have been opened in Australia, which is the result of greater interest among our citizens. In the previous elections in December 2023, there were only around 120 registered voters across the entire territory of Australia, whereas there are now more than 1,000, showing that Serbian citizens currently residing in Australia are more interested in developments in their homeland,” Stefanović told SBS.

According to the ambassador’s explanation, there had previously been insufficient interest among citizens to justify opening polling stations, as the number of registered voters is one of the requirements stipulated by the Law on the Election of Members of Parliament.

The ProGlas initiative called on Foreign Minister Marko Đurić to explain who had made the decision not to propose opening polling stations in Perth and Brisbane, despite a sufficient number of registered voters.

“The Law on the Election of Members of Parliament stipulates that the Republic Electoral Commission (RIK) determines polling stations abroad based on a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Under the aforementioned legal procedure, after considering the MFA’s proposal, the RIK adopted a decision at its meeting on October 5,” Ambassador Stefanović said.

According to him, when it came to proposing the cities where polling stations should be opened, the embassy conducted a preliminary assessment at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“This meant that we informed the host countries—Australia and New Zealand—in a timely manner, obtained approval to conduct the elections, secured appropriate premises for polling stations, and, taking into account the number of registered voters in individual cities as well as Australia’s geographical size, preliminarily assessed that the conditions for opening polling stations had been met in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland, as well as in Perth and Brisbane. The embassy is not responsible for submitting proposals to the RIK; its role is limited exclusively to conducting a preliminary assessment. Under the law, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submits the final proposal to the RIK,” Stefanović explained to SBS.

In an SBS podcast, the ambassador also explained the arguments he had presented in support of opening polling stations in Perth and Brisbane as well.

“As for Perth, which has nearly 150 registered voters, the embassy’s preliminary assessment highlighted its distance from Australia’s east coast—it is almost 3,800 kilometers from Sydney and nearly 3,000 kilometers from Melbourne. The embassy also secured premises for a polling station free of charge and, in that regard, made an unequivocal recommendation that a polling station be opened there. The situation in Brisbane is almost identical: it has slightly more than 170 voters, and premises for a polling station have also been secured there. I fully understand our citizens’ dissatisfaction that they will not be able to exercise their right to vote in their own city. Following the RIK’s decision, we received a large number of complaints from citizens, which we tried to answer patiently and forwarded to the Ministry. I am sorry about this, because the embassy has enjoyed good cooperation with our people here for many years,” Ambassador Stefanović emphasized.

The embassy has received no official notification explaining why only Melbourne and Sydney were proposed to the Republic Electoral Commission.

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