Serbia: Controlled media block reforms in the country

Brussels has been negotiating with Serbia for EU membership for years. But the controlled media in the country stigmatize the EU and thus prevent the reforms demanded by the West.

If you are to believe the controlled media in Serbia, then the situation in the Balkan country is like this: The West wants to humbly break this country. The only effective means against this is brotherly friendship with Russia and close contacts with China. Even more than that: Brussels and Washington with their secret services want us to kill the main Serbian politician, Vucic. Further: Western countries that have lost their Christian values, replaced by the LGBTQ community, are destined to be destroyed. Against this, the economic, social and social ties with Russia are exemplary. This applies especially to President Putin who acts like a father of the Russian nation. President Vucic is proud of his ties to Putin. Recently, he tried to create the “Serbian block” according to the model of the united Russian party”.

Monologues for the nation at every station

All five main nationally licensed television stations, the most important source of information for citizens, are under the influence of the political elite. They, apart from RTS, are in the hands of oligarchs who belong to the close circle of the ruling party, SNS and Vucic. The Serbian president can direct his monologues to the nation wherever he wants. Even favorite series are interrupted for this.

The situation is the same in the print media sector. Newspapers like Politika and Novosti, from which the state had to withdraw under EU pressure, are in the hands of owners who are close to Vucic. Informer, a high-circulation newspaper, is run by Dragan Vucivevic, whom Vucic repeatedly praises as the best journalist. Vucicevic sees his newspaper as the mouthpiece of the government and publishes bombastic headlines like “Ukraine has attacked Russia” every day. “The EU’s dirty war against Serbia”. “Vucic destroys (Croatian) fascists.”

The EU does not react

The EU ignores all the negative developments in the Serbian media landscape, because it still sees Vucic as its suitable partner for negotiations. In the latest progress report for Serbia (12.10.2022) topics such as media and freedom of the press are addressed at the end of it. Not even mentioned here is the instrumentalization of almost all media for securing power and the insults against any different voice. Only general findings that don’t hurt anyone. At a time when Vucic has repeatedly said that reforms should wait until the alleged threats to his country, such as Kosovo, Croatia or Muslim Bosniaks, have been removed. The controlled media regularly explain to the people this “argument” for postponing reforms.

Even the owner of the well-known Kurir newspaper, Aleksandar Rodic, had to sell the newspaper to one of Vucic’s confidants, Igor Zezelj, after several years of fighting with the authorities. The latter received the money from dubious transactions, largely from the state Telecom. In two open letters that attracted a lot of attention, Rodic stated that all important media are directly controlled by SNS and Vucic.

State advertising for media loyal to the state

The policy keeps the media that have been suffering from financial problems for a long time economically alive. According to data from the University of Belgrade, there are 2,500 media outlets in this small country. The turnover of the entire branch was calculated before the Corona pandemic at 210 million euros. Virtually all media are dependent on advertising revenue. The largest orders come from the state and state enterprises. It is not surprising that only those media that are politically willing to comply are considered. The authorities defer taxes to obedient television stations that collect large sums, such as TV Pink.

The Russian state agency Sputnik has been using media misfunding for 8 years and has a large editorial office in Belgrade. It feeds the media with material at no cost, which is gratefully received by many media and republished without changes. And of course they diffuse the Russian view of the world – that of a ruined West and a flourishing Russia. In all directions, it is thus “confirmed” that the partnership with Moscow has more advantages than Brussels or Washington.

Distraction from affairs

It is these media that help divert attention from scandals and corruption affairs during the 10-year rule of Vucic. They are thematized only by a few independent media. This includes arms deals, drugs, forged dissertations of important politicians, murder, money laundering, vote buying, fraud. Polls outside the two major cities of Belgrade and Novi Sad conclude that people in the province have no idea about the glaring irregularities of the political class, although they call themselves informed.

These controlled media serve their users with “Sex and Crime” headlines or smear the powerless opposition and praise Vucic as the main politician who has the right to decide on all contested issues. The opposition is charged with completely baseless accusations, such as the claim that they want to destroy Serbia or that they want to get NATO to bomb Serbia like in 1999.

Counterfeit reality

The media reflects a fictional reality. Vucic talks about the arrival of a “golden age”, but increasingly large classes are impoverished. As a result of media propaganda, the majority of the population today sees Russia and China as the biggest creditors and important trading partners and is against EU membership. In fact, Serbia has been developing two-thirds or more of its foreign trade with the West for decades. From the west come the biggest investments and financial gifts. According to a poll from June 2022, the majority support Vucic as national leader and are against the West and for a stronger link with Moscow: but around 50% want to leave because of discontent in their country. Practically no one will go to Russia. Almost everyone’s goal: Germany.