在10月25日塞尔维亚提前举行议会选举前夕，有关选举条件不公的指控在该国甚嚣尘上。届时，这个巴尔干国家的掌权政治家亚历山大·武契奇及其执政的进步党，将自上台以来十余年来首次面临最大挑战。
Allegations of unfair election conditions are rife in Serbia ahead of an Oct. 25 snap ballot for parliament in which the Balkan nation’s dominant politician Aleksandar Vucic and his ruling Progressive Party face their biggest challenge in more than a decade since coming to power.
据学生领导的反对派团体“学生名单”称，忠于这位长期执政的强人及其政权的当局，被指正在阻挠塞尔维亚庞大海外侨民的投票。约有10.6万名海外公民希望参与此次250个议席的议会选举。该团体呼吁美国、欧盟和人权组织向贝尔格莱德政府施压，要求修正其认为存在的选举缺陷。
Authorities loyal to the long-serving strongman and his party are allegedly obstructing voting by Serbia’s large diaspora, after some 106,000 citizens living abroaded to cast ballots in the race for the nation’s 250-seat parliament, according to student-led opposition group the Student List. It urged the US, the European Union and human rights organizations to press the government in Belgrade to amend the perceived shortcomings.
“如果塞尔维亚希望维护民主合法性与长期稳定，其选举首先必须真正向所有公民开放、平等且可信，包括海外侨民，”“学生名单”周三在一份声明中表示。
“If Serbia is to preserve democratic legitimacy and lasting stability, its elections must first be genuinely accessible, equal and credible to all citizens, including those living abroad,” the Student List said in a statement Wednesday.
该团体指控称，选举委员会仅同意在海外设立93个投票站——通常设在塞尔维亚的大使馆和领事馆——而“学生名单”认为，至少需要120个投票站，才能让大多数海外侨民顺利投票。
It alleged that the election commission agreed to open only 93 polling stations in foreign countries – typically in Serbian embassies and consulates – less than the 120 sites Student List says are required to enable most expats to cast votes.
这个新兴的反对派团体源于一个由学生领导的抗议运动。自2024年底发生造成16人死亡的致命火车站事件以来，该运动一直在塞尔维亚各地组织反政府集会。一些民意调查显示，“学生名单”可能在选举中获胜，该团体承诺将终结武契奇对公共机构、司法系统和媒体的控制。
The nascent opposition group has grown out of a student-led protest movement that led anti-government rallies across Serbia since a deadly train station incident in late 2024 left 16 dead. Some opinion surveys indicate that the Student List, which promises to undo Vucic’s control over public institutions, the judiciary and the media, may win the election race.
负责协调海外投票的塞尔维亚外交部将这些指控斥为“恶意活动”，并指出此次海外投票站数量多于2023年塞尔维亚上次议会选举时的81个。据估计，塞尔维亚的海外侨民总数超过400万人。
Serbia’s Foreign Ministry, which helps coordinate voting abroad, dismissed the allegations as ”malicious activity,” as the number of polling stations abroad is bigger this time than the 81 sites in Serbia’s previous parliamentary elections in 2023. Serbia’s diaspora is estimated to total over 4 million people.
根据民意调查，预计即将到来的投票将有很高的投票率，超过上次在超过600万合格选民中投出的380万张选票。
Turnout is expected to be high in the upcoming vote, bigger than the 3.8 million ballots cast last time among more than 6 million eligible voters, according to polls.
总部位于奥地利的欧洲安全与合作组织（OSCE）将派遣其选举观察团前往塞尔维亚，此前几次投票时也曾采取过类似行动。2023年，该组织报告发现了一些违规行为，例如执政党获得了不公平的优势。不过，那次选举的结果最终被接受，因为武契奇的进步党以压倒性优势获胜。
The Austria-based Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, or OSCE, is sending its election monitoring mission to Serbia, as it did during earlier votes. In 2023, its report found irregularities such as an unfair advantage for the ruling party. The outcome of that election was eventually accepted as Vucic’s Progressives won by a landslide.
学生名单的候选人桑贾·贝利奇表示，反对派代表将被派往塞尔维亚的所有投票站。她预计他们将在投票中获胜，“尽管违规行为会比上次选举更加严重。”贝尔格莱德研究中心、透明度和问责制中心的负责人拉萨·内德尔久科夫表示：“选举正变得高风险。”他说，此次竞选活动已经出现了“大量违规行为和阻挠行为，未来20天左右的时间，类似的局面还将继续。”
Opposition representatives will be deployed at all polling stations in Serbia, said Sanja Belic, a candidate on the Student List. She expects they will win the vote “even though irregularities will be even more intense than in the last elections.”“Elections are becoming a high-risk situation,” said Rasa Nedeljkov who heads the Belgrade-based Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability. The campaign is already marked by “numerous irregularities and acts of obstruction, and a similar scenario awaits us over the next 20 days or so,” he said.
武契奇及其政党否认这些指控，并指责反对派是外国资助的、旨在破坏国家稳定的阴谋的一部分。
Vucic and his party deny the allegations and accuse opponents of being part of an underhand, foreign-funded attempt to destabilize the country.