Press Freedom in Serbia Is Facing a Dangerous Turning Point, Editors Warn

THE GUARDIAN: Group says reporters at independent outlets suffer ‘constant harassment, physical attacks and smear campaigns’

Press freedom in Serbia is facing a “dangerous turning point” after mounting pressure on independent outlets from ministers and state-backed media, a group of senior editors has warned.

The editors, who are all from publications within the independent United Media group, said their reporters faced “constant harassment, physical attacks and smear campaigns” after their reporting in the country, which has been gripped by protests against its autocratic president, Aleksandar Vučić.

Their intervention follows what appears to have been the largest anticorruption demonstration in Serbia’s history this month. The mass gathering in Belgrade marked the culmination of four months of protests against the government after the deadly collapse of a concrete train station canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad last November.

Civil society groups have been warning for months about an increasingly hostile environment for independent media since the station collapse, which killed 16 people and set in motion a political backlash against Vučić’s pro-Russia administration. » | Michael Savage, Media editor | Sunday, March 23, 2025

Arrests, Detentions, and Blacklists Pile Pressure on Serbian Activists | DW News

Oct 9, 2024 | Activists in Serbia who advocate for human rights, environmental protection, and freedom of speech have been coming under increased pressure from the state in recent months. Many have been detained, faced threats, and been the target of public smear campaigns.

These developments raise significant concerns about the rule of law and democratic standards in Serbia and call into question the country's commitment to European values.

NGOs and European institutions have already expressed concern.

Are Chinese Factories Poisoning Southern Europeans? | Focus on Europe

Dec 16, 2023 | For China, the Balkans are the entry point to Europe, meaning that China is active in many industrial projects in this region. Chinese-owned companies run local factories, and are involved in coal power stations. But some of these endeavors seem to leave the environment and people’s health worse off. Our reporters want to find out more about China’s footprint in the Balkans.

Could Russian Propaganda Turn Serbia against the EU and NATO? | DW News

Dec 16, 2023 | Pro-democracy campaigners are urging Serbians to go out and vote in parliamentary and local elections on Sunday. The election is pitting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling Serbian Progressive Party, against a pro-Western opposition coalition.

Observers say campaigning has been held in an atmosphere of intimidation and under the heavy influence of Russia.

The elections were initially scheduled to be held by 30 April 2026, but president Vucic called a snap election. DW's journalists Sanja Kljajic and Alexandra von Nahmen met Serbian voters and election observers in the capital Belgrade.

Belgrade: The City Where Dirty Air Is Seen as a ‘Consequence of Economic Growth’

THE GUARDIAN – EUROPE: Critics decry lack of political will in Serbian capital to clean polluted air that residents say they can ‘feel and taste’

When the Yugoslav prime minister Džemal Bijedić promised to clean the country’s air at a conference in Belgrade in 1974, a reporter from the New York Times wrote that there was little hope of early relief for the city’s residents, who felt the pollution was getting worse. “The choking, sulphurous atmosphere of Belgrade and several other major Yugoslav cities reddens eyes, shreds nylon stockings and ruins pianissimo passages in the concert hall because of the nearly continuous coughing it causes in audiences,” the writer said.

Half a century later, residents of Belgrade are still holding their breath. “I have asthma and it’s killing me,” says Dejan, 40, a graffiti artist and MC who runs a paint shop in the industrial Palilula district. “It’s not smog, man, it’s a black fog. You cannot see.”

The air in the capital of Serbia, a country of 7 million people in line to join the EU, is worse than in almost any other city in Europe. Belgrade is home to five of the 15 most polluted districts on the continent, Guardian analysis of modelling based on European air quality data has revealed. Foul coal plants, vast landfills, old vehicles and bad heaters spew a cocktail of toxic particles that land in the lungs and veins of the city’s residents. » | Ajit Niranjan in Belgrade | Friday, September 22, 2023

How a Pro-Russian Nationalist Movement Grew in Serbia – BBC News

Jul 20, 2023 | After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, countries around the world were forced to take sides. Most in the West sided with Ukraine, but in Serbia, a country with its own recent history of war, a sizable pro-Russian nationalist movement began to become more visible.

These groups not only align themselves with Moscow, but also present a clearly anti-Western perspective. Just over a week after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, thousands of Serbs took to the streets of Belgrade. They waved Russian flags and held the pro-war Z signs and portraits of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

The organiser of the protest, Damjan Knezevic, took to the stage, calling for Serbs to support Russians. To understand why, reporter Jovana Geogievski, working with BBC Eye Investigations, followed the ultra-nationalist Knezevic over the next year.

Teenage Shooter Kills At Least 9 in Belgrade, Police Say | DW News

LIRE AUSSI :

Serbie : à Belgrade, un adolescent ouvre le feu dans une école et tue au moins 9 personnes : Le tireur, un élève de 13 ans, a été rapidement arrêté par la police. Au moins huit élèves et un gardien ont été tués. »

Serbia Cancels EuroPride amid Rightwing Threats, Says President

THE OBSERVER: Aleksandar Vučić admits ‘violation of minority rights’ while citing fears of clashes at LGBTQ+ event in Belgrade

People taking part in the Belgrade Pride march in September last year Photograph: Andrej Isaković/AFP/Getty Images
Serbia will not allow a pan-European LGBTQ+ Pride event to take place in Belgrade next month, the president has said, citing threats from rightwing extremists and fears of clashes.

The Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, announced the decision to cancel the EuroPride celebration on 12-18 September during a news conference where he also proposed extending the term of Serbia’s prime minister, who identifies as a lesbian.

Members of the European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) chose Serbia’s capital three years ago to host the annual event. Vučić said a crisis with neighbouring Kosovo and various economic problems were among the reasons why the Balkan country’s authorities did not think they could handle EuroPride, which features a Pride parade.

“This is a violation of minority rights, but at this moment the state is pressured by numerous problems,” he said. » | Associated Press in Belgrade | Saturday, August 27, 2022

Serbia, Russia and the War in Ukraine | DW Documentary

May 24, 2022 • Serbia has refused to impose sanctions on Russia up to now. The majority of Serbs support Putin’s war in Ukraine. Many have traumatic memories of NATO bombing during the Kosovo War and mistrust the West.

This documentary shows how the war in Ukraine has actually strengthened many Serbs’ feelings for Russia and upped President Vladimir Putin’s popularity. At demonstrations, protesters chant "Serbia and Russia: brothers forever” and "Putin, Putin”. Construction worker Sreten Mijovic regards Ukrainians as antichrists. For him, the most important things in life are Russia, Serbia and the Serbian soccer club Red Star Belgrade. The Grbovic family remembers the frightening weeks that they spent in the cellar during the NATO bombing campaign in 1999 — when Russia was the only country that took Serbia’s side.

Serbia would like to join the European Union, but it feels strong ties to Russia because of a shared culture and the Christian orthodox faith.

One on One - Crown Prince Alexander of Serbia

The Crown Prince with No Kingdom

Crown Prince Alexander is royalty, but he has no kingdom to rule. CBC News spoke to the crown prince about his views on Serbia's democracy, bringing back a monarchy, and the excitement over the British Royal Family's latest wedding.

Bashar al-Assad Interview with Serbian Newspaper | November 7, 2016

Syrian president's interview with Serbian newspaper "Politika"

Serbia: Dozens of Muslim Tombstones Vandalised One Night before Eid al-Fitr

Vandals damaged 34 tombstones at a Muslim cemetery of Gazilar in Novi Pazar, on Tuesday, just one evening before the start of Eid al-Fitr.

British Consulates Open Doors to Same[-]sex Marriages in Russia

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Gay Britons living in Russia, China and Serbia are now be able get married in the British consulate

Same[-]sex marriages can take place in the British consulates of more than 20 countries where the ceremonies are not legal including Russia, Azerbaijan, Serbia and Hungary.

The Foreign Office has opened the doors of its missions to British nationals and their partners who wish to wed but are unable to under foreign laws.

Chris Bryant, the former Foreign office minister and openly gay Labour MP, said he hoped the move would be "celebrated" in countries like Russia where homosexuals face prejudice and persecution.

In June last year Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, signed into law a bill punishing people for homosexual "propaganda".

The law imposed fines on those who disseminate information aimed at minors ‘directed and forming non-traditional sexual set-up’, or which may cause a ‘distorted understanding’ that gay and heterosexual relationships are equal. » | Matthew Holehouse and Steven Swinford | Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Serbia Snow: Hundreds of Stranded Drivers Rescued

BBC: Hundreds of drivers in Serbia have been rescued after becoming stranded due to heavy winter snow.

Gusts of more than 150km/h (93mph) battered towns across the country, as police and the army helped motorists trapped by snow drifts.

Guy De Launey reports from Belgrade. (+ BBC video) » | Saturday, February 01, 2014

Serbia Buries Tito's Widow, the Last Symbol of Yugoslavia

Jovanka Broz in 1952

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: The widow of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito was to be buried with full state honours on Saturday, the last symbol of the communist federation that broke up in the 1990s.

Jovanka Broz, who died of heart failure at the age of 88, will be buried next to her husband in the House of Flowers in Belgrade, where the communist strongman was laid to rest in 1980.

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic will give a speech at the funeral, to be held with full military honours as Broz was a decorated member of the Yugoslav anti-fascist partisan movement in World War II, the government said.

"It will be the funeral the first lady of the former state deserves. This is the least we could do," said Serbian deputy prime minister Rasim Ljajic ahead of the funeral.

Several dozen people, mostly elderly former partisans, gathered in front of the mausoleum to pay their respects.

Many of them proudly carried their World War II decorations, while others waved the blue, white and red flags of the former communist federation that broke apart in a series of bloody conflicts in the 1990s. » | AFP | Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Surge of Serbs and Macedonians: Germany Seeks to Halt Influx of Balkan Asylum Seekers
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: With a massive surge in asylum applications from people of the Roma minority from Serbia and Macedonia, Germany's interior minister is calling for new rules to expedite processing these cases. Although many come to the EU for better economic opportunities, they also face racial discrimination at home, advocacy groups say.

After observing an extreme rise in the number of asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia in recent weeks, Germany's interior minister is calling for tighter rules for processing the applications.

"Those who originate from safe countries, should be provided with reduced cash benefits in the future," Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, a conservative with Bavaria's Christian Social Union party, told the daily Die Welt.

Two weeks ago, Friedrich advised Germany's federal states that they could better defend themselves against the flood of applicants by providing vouchers for food and services rather than cash benefits to the asylum seekers, many of whom are of the Roma minority. » | dsl -- with wires | Thursday, October 25, 2012

Serbien kann EU-Beitrittskandidat werden
Rumänien gibt den Widerstand gegen Serbiens Annäherung an die EU auf
NZZ ONLINE: Serbien rückt näher an die EU heran. Rumänien gab seinen Widerstand auf, womit einem positiven Entscheid der EU-Staats- und Regierungschefs nichts mehr im Weg stand. Herman Van Rompuy bleibt Gipfel-Chef und forderte Wachsamkeit.

Der frühere belgische Premier Herman Van Rompuy ist für weitere zweieinhalb Jahre als EU-Ratspräsident bestätigt und zugleich zum Vorsitzenden der Euro-Gipfel bestimmt worden. Seine Bestätigung als Ratspräsident war ebenso unbestritten wie seine Ernennung zum Vorsitzenden der künftigen Gipfel der 17 Euro-Staats- und Regierungschefs.

Er fühle sich «sehr geehrt» über die Weiterführung seines Mandats als ständiger EU-Ratspräsident, twitterte Van Rompuy. Er akzeptiere zudem die Ernennung zum Vorsitzenden der Euro-Gipfel und danke für das Vertrauen. » | sda | Donnerstag, 01. März 2012

Melting Danube Worsens Serbia's Weather Woes
Europe's worst cold spell in decades - which froze the River Danube and for weeks severly disrupted trade along its waterways - is now easing. But as the temperatures rise, the thawing of the river has caused even more havoc in Serbia. The sudden melt caused large chunks of ice to break off and flow downstream - damaging boats in the marina. Rescue services are being blamed for not doing enough to help, while Serbia's government faces a massive clean-up operation that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Al Jazeera's Sonia Gallego reports.

The West at Its Worst, at Its Most Common!
Amy Whitehouse Drunk On Stage in Belgrade »