About: Serbia
Vucic and Orban formalise their ‘special relationship’
Hungary, whose government has been at odds with Brussels for a long time, has emerged as a major pro-Serbian lobbyist within the EU and this special "illiberal" relationship was formalised on Wednesday (8 September), Serbian journalist Darko Čačić reports for EURACTIV Bulgaria.
Hungary, Poland, Serbia: China’s backdoors to Europe
China benefits from divisions that prevent the EU from forming a unified front against it. That is why relations with EU members Hungary and Poland, as well as with the Western Balkans and Serbia in particular, are getting stronger, writes Antonia Colibasanu.
Serbian President fumes as Twitter exposes his ‘friendly media’
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has compared himself to Donald Trump as a politician victimized by Twitter, after the social media took the decision to tag many of the media organisations which support him as “pro-government”.
Serbia’s emergence as China’s new strategic hub
Membership of the EU remains Serbia’s strategic goal, as two thirds of its trade exchange is with the EU. However, Serbia has become increasingly close to China in recent years in a plethora of areas, writes Serbian journalist Darko Čačić.
Serbia fumes over Croatia’s plan to put Tesla on euro coins
Croatia's plan to put famous inventor Nikola Tesla on its euro coins has sparked criticism in Serbia, whose central bank said Monday (26 July) it would take the issue to the EU.
Telekom Srbija: Vucic’s weapon to stifle media freedom
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić bases his power largely on media influence. In this respect, state-owned cable and broadband provider Telekom Srbija is used as a political weapon, writes Darko Čačić.
Political scientists say EU has lost the battle for the Balkans
The EU has lost the battle for the Balkans, where Russia and China are offering bonuses without asking for reforms, geopolitical experts told an online conference organised by EURACTIV.bg this week, proposing increased cooperation and a Balkan common market as the best way forward.
Game on for the Premier League in Serbia?
Luring them with football, Serbia’s leadership want to lock Balkan audiences into their favoured TV channels carrying anti-western narratives, which correspond with the country’s growing ties to the likes of China, Russia and Hungary, writes Marko Milosavljevič.
Analysis: Vucic’s balancing act with the EU
Serbia's progress towards the EU should not be expected as long as Aleksandar Vučić is the most powerful politician in the country, writes Darko Čačić, in an article he submitted to EURACTIV Bulgaria.
EU-Serbia: A stagnation comfortable for both sides
No progress in Serbia’s EU integration process appears to be a solution that fits both the EU side which is increasingly critical toward the authoritarian trends in Belgrade and the lack of progress with Kosovo, and the ruling bloc in Belgrade which doesn’t see EU relations as important for its voters, writes BETA agency.
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.