The information that Rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik MEP requested that there be no mention of Telekom Serbia in the European Parliament (EP) Report on Serbia, as a source from the EP told N1, surfaced just a day after Bilcik had an official meeting with this company’s representatives, reported Nova.rs.

The meeting entitled “Media Environment in Serbia” was held on Wednesday, March 29 and was, according to the EP, related to the “Commission Report on Serbia.” However, no information was released on what Telekom representatives attended the meeting with Bilcik, Nova.rs reported.

A day earlier, the EP Rapporteur for Serbia also met with representatives of Adria Media Group and Euractiv Serbia, the EP posted on its official website, while the working title of the meeting was “Serbian Media and EU Integration.”

An N1 source in the European Parliament said Bilcik had asked that Telekom Srbija not be mentioned in the report on Serbia. Although Bilcik has neither confirmed nor denied this information, his previous work was, among other things, also marked by a series of omissions in earlier reports that “played into the hands” of the Serbian authorities, Nova.rs reported.

It added that Bilcik would “forget” to mention the cases of Jovanjica, Krusik and Savamala.

An N1 source in the European Parliament said that the document calling for the removal of any mention of Telekom Serbia from the EP report on Serbia was a proposal by Rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik made at a meeting on amendments filed on his report.

The source said that the meeting lasted three hours, much longer than usual and added that Bilcik’s proposal was not accepted. “The part of the report on the media and Telekom Srbija was left in the amendments to the draft report,” the source said.

A second source told N1 that the scandals that Telekom was allegedly involved in were removed from the amendments but that the parts detailing the role of the company in controlling the Serbian media were left in.

A document that N1 TV had access to showed that state-owned Telekom Srbija complained to the European Union (EU), requesting that it be dropped from the amendments to the draft Report on Serbia.

A group of MEPs submitted several amendments to European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik’s draft Report on Serbia, asking that the case of Telekom Srbija be included in the report in a negative context.

Tepic: It might cross my mind that Bilcik is on Telekom’s and Vucic’s payroll

“It might cross my mind that Bilcik is on Telekom’s and Vucic’s payroll. But no way…” tweeted Party of Freedom and Justice deputy leader Marinika Tepic in response to the information that Rapporteur for Serbia Bilcik has requested that Telekom Srbija be left out of the EP report on Serbia.

Asked to comment on her tweet, Tepic said:

“How can one not ask? If we know that many MEPs are requesting an investigation into the “Telekom case,” if we from the Party of Freedom and Justice have provided so much evidence over the past years and disclosed Telekom’s wrongdoings, and then Bilcik as the Rapporteurs for Serbia says no, what does that mean? It seems that the “Bilcik case” should then be investigated, as well as whether this man is someone’s lobbyist or whether he is a MEP,” said Marinika Tepic.