Council of Europe committee postpones decision on 'Sarajevo Safari' Resolution draft until December

Aleksandar Mirkovic, a committee member and part of the delegation from the National Assembly of Serbia, challenged the motion. He stressed that judicial authorities in several European nations had already dismissed the information in question, while prominent European media outlets had disputed it.

Following intense discussion among members, the committee's chairman, Eerik-Niiles Kross, proposed deferring the final decision to the next meeting in December, a proposal that was ultimately adopted, according to a press release from the Serbian parliament.

The "Sarajevo safari" case concerns an investigation initiated by Italian judicial authorities based on claims that multiple individuals from Italy paid to travel in an organised manner to positions held by the Bosnian Serb army surrounding Sarajevo during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia, where they allegedly shot at civilians.

Indications exist that citizens of other European countries also participated, prompting judicial authorities in Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium to join the investigation.

Certain European media outlets connected the outgoing Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, to expeditions in which wealthy foreign tourists used sniper rifles to shoot at people during the siege of Sarajevo. Vucic denied the allegations and threatened legal action against media outlets linking him to the scandal.

During the session, Biljana Pantic Pilja, head of the Permanent Delegation of the National Assembly of Serbia to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, raised concerns regarding the political crisis in Kosovo. She warned that Kosovo could soon face fresh elections, pointing to what she described as deep political instability and an institutional crisis in Europe's youngest state.

She further warned of what she characterised as threats to the safety of Serbs in Kosovo and violations of their fundamental rights, recalling that the Association of Serb Municipalities, a key obligation under the Brussels Agreement, has still not been established.

The autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg takes place from 28 September to 2 October 2026. Parliamentarians are debating reforms within the organisation, the role of diasporas and migrants in achieving social cohesion, climate change, artificial intelligence, family policy, as well as threats to media pluralism and independence.