21/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU welcomes elections. On 17 March, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle welcomed the fact that early general elections had been held in Serbia, won by Aleksandar Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). He stated that according to international election observers, these elections “offered voters a genuine choice and were conducted on a sound legal basis”. “Election day procedures were conducted in an organised and transparent manner and fundamental freedoms were respected throughout the campaign”, he added. Füle encouraged the Serbian authorities to respond to the recommendations made by the observers, and to continue the legal reform and strengthen media pluralism. He said that he was “glad” to see that the Serbian people had given a very clear signal of support to the continued EU orientation of government policy, and he emphasised that it was important that the parliament was assembled and a new government formed “in good time” because the country was in the first year of accession negotiations. Füle also underlined that “Serbia will be expected to tackle with renewed impetus the many reform challenges lying ahead” and he underlined the importance of Serbia continuing its engagement in the dialogue with Pristina. (CG)