With the support of the project Pulse of Europe – Media Trips to EU, several media outlets from Serbia got the opportunity for their journalists to cover the final of the 2024 European elections from Brussels.

Journalists of the Beta and FoNet news agencies, the daily newspapers Danas, Nova, Blic and Politika participated in that unique media trip to Brussels, to which were selected the media outlets that do not have a permanent correspondent in Brussels. The visit lasted from June 7 to 10. Apart from the main event – election night, the programme included meetings with the International European Movement, permanent correspondents of Serbian and regional media from Brussels, a meeting in the General Directorate for Enlargement, as well as a post-election analysis of the results organized by the portal “Politico”.

In this way, in addition to the first reactions to the results of the elections for the new five-year composition of the European Parliament and their analysis, the journalists also gained insight into the views of leading political groups, non-governmental organisations and Brussels institutions on new trends, as well as possible consequences for the policy of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.

The elections for the European Parliament, the 10th in a row, were held from June 2 to 9 in 27 member states; about 350 million EU citizens had the right to vote. The last day of the election was on Sunday, June 9, and the first unofficial results were announced at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels that evening, a few hours after the polls closed.

As a result of the visit, the media whose journalists participated published more than 25 reports from the spot – first results and projections, statements by the presidents of the European Parliament and the European Commission, as well as leaders of the leading groups in the Parliament. In addition, the reports contained contributions from some polling stations in Brussels, as well as voters views. Daily newspapers Nova and Blic used the contributions for live blogs, which was the way they chose to follow the finals of the 2024 European elections.

Thus, Serbian journalists were part of a large press community from around the world – almost 1,000 journalists from all continents were accredited to follow the election night from the European Parliament building in Brussels. It was also the first time that journalists from Serbia were supported in an organised manner to follow some European elections at the spot.