About: Serbia
Campaign group flags judicial interference in journalist cases in Serbia and Montenegro
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) flagged on Friday (11 June) two instances where key judiciary figures interfered with legal proceedings in cases involving two investigative journalists in Serbia and Montenegro.
Serb tabloids call Mladic ‘hero forever’ as he loses final appeal in genocide conviction
Ratko Mladić, the wartime Bosnian Serb commander dubbed the “butcher of Bosnia”, lost the final appeal in the genocide conviction against him before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT) in The Hague on Tuesday (8 June), prompting a wide range of reactions in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia.
How is corruption investigated in Serbia: The Krušik case
In Serbia, corruption is investigated only in rare cases when it suits the country’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, as the Krušik arms export scandal shows, writes Svetla Miteva.
Balkan media conference: ‘The EU barks rather timidly to enemies of press freedom ‘
Media freedom throughout Europe needs all the support it can get, but the situation in the Balkans is particularly worrying, participants told an online conference "Media Freedom in the Balkans” organised by EURACTIV.
MEPs sound the alarm over Chinese mass surveillance project in Belgrade
The European Parliament is taking a close look at China's high-tech present to Serbia, a mass surveillance system that involves the installation of thousands of smart surveillance cameras equipped with facial recognition features, MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, France) told EURACTIV in an interview.
Leaked paper sheds light on poor rule of law, media situation in Serbia
The print media in Serbia that most often violate the journalistic code of professional conduct continue to be the beneficiaries of public funding, warned an internal EU paper obtained by EURACTIV that painted a bleak picture of the EU candidate country's democratic record.
Printing houses in Serbia refuse to publish new daily newspaper
United Group, a leading multi-play telecoms and media provider in South-East Europe, announced in April it was launching a daily newspaper in Serbia with a responsible editorial concept, to counter the bad situation with print media in the country. However, no printing house in Serbia has so far accepted to print the new daily, called Nova.
Serbia rewards president’s controversial media aide with top culture post
Serbia’s appointment last week of Suzana Vasiljević, media aide to President Aleksandar Vučić, to the management of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, despite her lacking any connection to classical music, has raised many eyebrows in the country.
Media freedom in the Western Balkans is a geopolitical issue
The decline in media freedom in the Balkans is eroding the European values of democracy and rule of law and creating a climate ripe for disinformation that is cultivating anti-EU and anti-western sentiment across the region, writes Peter Horrocks.
In Serbia, fake news is spread by state-backed media
Two recent reports focusing on democracy and media freedom by the international NGOs Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House went almost unnoticed in Belgrade. On World Press Freedom Day (3 May), EURACTIV Bulgaria looked at their Serbian neighbour, an EU candidate since 2012.
Democracy ‘loses currency’ in Europe, warns Freedom House
In its latest report published on Wednesday (28 April) the NGO Freedom House warns of an "antidemocratic turn" throughout Europe, “fuelling a deterioration in human freedom with global implications”.
Serbia’s Vucic ‘treating the EU as if stupid were its middle name’
Serbian President Alexandar Vučić deflected EU criticism on the worsening situation of rule of law and media freedom in his country, with the help of media under his control. EURACTIV looked at the real picture.
Washington voices support for Western Balkans’ EU path after non-paper scare
The United States voiced full support and pledged to help the Western Balkan countries' efforts to join the European Union on Monday (27 April), after an unofficial diplomatic note suggesting border changes in the region raised fears of renewed ethnic tensions in the south-eastern corner of Europe.
Populism and cozy ties with Russia and China: Vucic takes Serbia further away from EU
European tolerance has greatly contributed to Serbian President Alexander Vučić and the ruling Serbian Progressive Party's establishing an authoritarian system that has nothing to do with the rule of law, writes Svetla Miteva.
Michel silent over unofficial document mulling border changes in Western Balkans
A phantom document proposing controversial border changes across the Western Balkans caused a political storm in the region and in Brussels this week. While most EU officials had little knowledge of the elusive document, the office of European Council President Charles Michel could not deny receiving it. EURACTIV took a closer look
Great Serbian vaccinationism
The decision of the Serbian authorities to open the door to their neighbours for vaccination has nothing to do with reviving warm memories of the former Yugoslavia, writes Orhan Dragaš.
Foreign vaccine-seekers flock to Serbia for COVID-19 shots
Elma jumped in her car with her mother and brother as soon as she heard that Serbia was offering free COVID-19 vaccines to foreigners, and made the five-hour trip from her home in Bosnia to queue up for a shot.
Serbia to start producing Chinese Sinopharm vaccine
Serbia will become the first European country to produce the Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, the Balkan country's President Aleksandar Vučić said Thursday (11 March).
Majority of French still against Balkans’ EU integration
Some 59% of French citizens do not see the prospect of the Western Balkans countries' EU accession in a positive light, a new study has found. But it also revealed increasing mistrust toward the bloc overall.
With China’s help, Serbia overtakes EU in vaccine rollout
Inside the dome of Belgrade's concrete fair hall, dozens of nurses in hazmat suits inject COVID-19 shots into young and old alike, working with an efficiency that has turned Serbia into continental Europe's fastest vaccinator.
EU regrets Kosovo’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem
The European Union voiced regret on Tuesday (2 February) at Kosovo's decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, made as part of a broader deal brokered by the previous US administration, saying it "diverges" the tiny Balkan country from the EU position.
Serbia to spend €2.5 billion to aid recovery from coronavirus crisis
Serbia plans to spend about €2.5 billion in loans and subsidies to businesses and payments to pensioners and other citizens to help them cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus, President Aleksandar Vučić said on Tuesday (26 January).
Montenegro FM: ‘Zero problem doctrine’ for the Western Balkans
Montenegro will be pursuing a "zero problem doctrine" with its neighbours, while EU accession remains its main priority, Djordje Radulović, the country's new foreign minister, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview only weeks after the EU hopeful saw its first democratic change of power in 30 years.