After “Sputnik”, is Serbia opening the door for “Russia Today”?

The public of Serbia is still buzzing after the unofficial announcements about the launch of “Russia Today” television – a Russian state media which, by the decision of the Council of the European Union from March 2022, is prevented from broadcasting and publishing program content on the territory of the Union.

The same decision applies to “Sputnik”, also a Russian state media, and it is explained by the assessment that they represent important instruments in encouraging and supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as a threat to public order and EU security.

Russia, on the other hand, in the form of a kind of reaction, blocked the broadcasting of BBC programs, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Deutsche Welle and several other media – claiming that they were spreading false information.

In Serbia, however, no barriers apply to “Sputnik”, where the Russian state media has been broadcasting radio and multimedia programs for the past seven years – since 2017.

It was from Ljubinka Milincic, its editor-in-chief, that the information about the plans for the establishment of “Russia Today” television on the territory of Serbia came.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s not starting with work right now, but is preparing,” Milincic told the Nova.rs portal.

Sputnik Serbia – is a part of the Russian news agency Sputnik, based in Moscow, founded by the state-owned media group “Rossiya Segodnya”. This is the successor of the “RIA Novosti” agency and the radio “Voice of Russia”.

The head office of “Russia Today” has not yet responded to the Voice of America’s inquiry about plans for business expansion in the territory of Serbia.

On the occasion of those unofficial announcements, the European Union reacted – by claiming that it expects Serbia to refrain from intensifying relations with Russia.

Peter Stano, spokesperson of the European Commission for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, reminded that Serbia is expected to comply with the decisions of the European Union, among which is the restriction of broadcasting of the Russian state television “Russia Today”.

“Russia Today is part of the Russian propaganda and disinformation instruments with which the Kremlin monitors the illegal aggression against Ukraine and the murders of the Ukrainian people. In this context, we expect Serbia to refrain from intensifying relations with Russia as a country that massively violates the Charter of the United Nations and international law,” he said in a statement to Radio Free Europe.

In the March decision made in connection with the ban on the distribution of the programs “Russia Today” and “Sputnik” in the European Union, it was stated, among other things, that both media are part of the coordinated manipulation of information, which also contains misinformation.

The sanctions imposed on them refer to distribution via cable networks, satellites, IPTV, platforms, websites and applications and apply to all EU members. Their implementation began immediately.

In the same period, Olivera Zekic, president of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), stated that Serbia will not impose sanctions on Russian media.

“The Serbian regular body for electronic media will never impose sanctions on any media from the Russian Federation for the simple reason that we really stand for freedom of speech and opinion. What is currently happening on the world map is a severe hypocrisy, which we do not know who will stand in the way,” Zekic said in March 2022 to the Russian “Sputnik”, reported Fonet.

By the way, on the eve of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the attention of the domestic and international public was drawn to the decision of the domestic Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), which, in December 2021, approved the broadcast of the program for “Russia Today” in the German language.

That license covered cable, satellite and IPTV broadcasting.

Olivera Zekic then explained that the license was issued based on the provisions of the Law on Electronic Media and the Law on the Ratification of the European Convention on Cross-Border Television.

In February 2022, the German authorities banned the Russian state television channel “Russia Today” from broadcasting in German.

On the basis of a license from Serbia, it seems that “Russia Today” tried to circumvent German regulations that do not allow the broadcasting of programs on foreign state-owned channels – like “Russia Today”, whose work is financed by the official Kremlin.

Jamie Wiseman, a representative of the International Press Institute (IPI) – a non-governmental organization focused on promoting and protecting media freedom and improving journalistic practices, stated in an interview with the Voice of America on the occasion of Press Freedom Day – that “Sputnik” and “Russia Today” cannot be considered regular newsletters.

“Regular journalists do not work in them and the editorial decision-making process does not take place in accordance with the usual journalistic practice, while the way of management and relations with the authorities go to a violent extreme. It is not possible to treat them as regular media. I watched an interview with one of the editors of “Sputnik” on one of the Russian state media, who advocated stronger state censorship in Russian society – claiming that the internal crisis was caused by the opening and period of greater freedom of speech,” Wiseman pointed out – adding that the same editor claimed that for the sake of Russia’s stability it is necessary to strengthen the control over the flow of information.

“That, in no way, corresponds to standard journalistic values. This is the clearest illustration that these are not regular and independent journalistic bodies – but agents of propaganda in Russia and should be treated as such. If you look at it that way, it is clear that they are part of the Russian war machine and that they participated in creating reasons and narratives for Russian society and citizens about why the war against Ukraine is being waged,” Wiseman concluded in the interview.

In May 2020, the NATO Center of Excellence for Strategic Communication (STRATCOMCOE) published the study “Russian footprints in the information environment of the Western Balkans” in which it was concluded that the presence of Russia in the Western Balkans is inevitable, which is why the engagement and assistance of the European Union, NATO and the United States to the process of democratic reforms of the countries is important.

In the publications of that organization, the media that contribute to the spread of Russian influence by distributing the content of Sputnik Serbia, which are mentioned throughout the Western Balkans, are analyzed.