Serbia

Serbian Editors Warn of 'Dangerous Turning Point' for Press Freedom

MAR 24 2025·Updated MAR 25 2025

Story

Above: Riot police secure the area during the student-led rally on March 15, 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia. Image credit: Srdjan Stevanovic/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

Press freedom in Serbia faces a "dangerous turning point" following increased pressure on independent outlets from the state and state-backed media, a group of editors from the country warned this week in an open letter.
guardian
Politiko
The editors, all from publications within the independent United Media group, said their reporters faced "constant harassment, physical attacks and smear campaigns" for reporting on developments in the country — namely the wave of protests that have hit Pres. Aleksandar Vučić and his government.
guardian
Politiko
Protests first broke out after the concrete canopy of a recently renovated train station in Novi Sad collapsed and killed 15 people last November. However, the near-daily student-led protests turned into a national movement against Vučić and his party — in power for 13 years — accusing it of corruption, fraud, and failing to uphold the rule of law.
Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Emerging Europe
As protests escalated, Vučić has been accused of increasingly resorting to autocratic measures to put down the unrest. At a protest in Belgrade earlier this month, where upwards of 300K demonstrators were reportedly in attendance, security services were accused of deploying a "sound cannon" to disperse crowds. The government denies the allegation.
guardian
BBC News
Similarly, a number of media freedom groups have accused the Serbian government of a crackdown on independent media, with reports of physical violence, death threats, and other harassment. According to a Reporters Without Borders report in January, at least 12 journalists have been injured by the country's security forces at protests.
Ipi.Media
RSF
While Serbia has long faced a repressive climate for journalists, editors warned that the situation has worsened in light of recent protests. "Instead of addressing real public issues, the government creates false stories that paint independent media as foreign agents and enemies of the state," the letter said.
EuroNews
guardian
Politiko

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The government of Serbia has just held its first meeting to set up a committee to take into account the views of the protest movement. Once those views are articulated, it will lead to transformations in the government that all Serbians want.

B92.net

Narrative B

Serbia is becoming a much more dangerous place for independent journalists. While some reporters have come under direct attack from the state, the government has also unleashed rhetoric accusing journalists of "causing unrest," making attacks on them more permissible.

guardian