The Serbian People's Union of Pontypridd have recieved notice that a motion we submitted asking the Senedd to condemn racist comments made by members of Plaid Cymru's senior staff has been rejected. We condemn the Llywydd's office for siding with racists within Plaid Cymru, and feel that the public have a right to see the motion banned by the Llywydd:

"This Parliament condemns comments made by a Plaid Cymru press officer that “the Serbian people are an inherently fascistic one”, and declares its opposition to both anti-Serbian racism and other bigotry in all its forms."

As with any ethnic minority, Serbs in the United Kingdom and Wales too often face discrimination and prejudice. Countering this is why our party was founded. While we have all heard many a prejudiced comment in our time in this great country, it is with a heavy heart that we saw an official press video released by Plaid Cymru entitled their “official top 5 Balkan countries”.

In this, they falsely claimed both Vojvodina, and Kosovo and Metohija to be countries in their own right, rather than Autonomous Provinces of Serbia. While we could forgive what appeared to be ignorance and unconscious bias, this was soon followed by an even worse statement. When we condemned this video, we were told by the Plaid Cymru press officer responsible for the post that “the Serbian people are an inherently fascistic one”.

The fact that one of Wales’ two major parties could be a platform for clear cut racism against the Serbian people is horrifying, not only merely dogwhistling by claiming the division of Serbia, but outright calling a people subjected to the horrors of Nazi invasion in WW2 to be “inherently fascistic”.

We wanted to give the Welsh Parliament an opportunity to show clearly that the Welsh people reject racism, reject anti Serb prejudice, and reject the comments of this Plaid Cymru press officer. We have been denied this opportunity. We urge Plaid Cymru to reconsider their increasing leanings towards bigotry and discrimination, lest the people of Pontyprudd give them an appropriate response at the ballot box to their conduct.

- Published by Spektakularnasalata, from the press office of the Serbian People’s Union of Pontypridd