Djuric: Putin has the greatest support in Serbia

The Serbian government is anti-democratic, anti-European and anti-Western, says Ivan Djuric, a policy analyst at CRTA, adding that this also poses a problem for civil society there to gain Western support, due to its cooperation with the executive.

In an interview with The Geopost, Djuric discusses Serbia's efforts to portray Russian President Vladimir Putin as a peacemaker, the Serbian government's role in amplifying Russian propaganda, and the challenges civil society faces in trying to resist this influence. He says Putin has the most support in Serbia.

The full interview can be found here:

The Geopost: To what extent have you observed an increase in Russian disinformation efforts over the past month, especially in light of President Trump's efforts for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine?

Djuric: If you look at global news, especially in the Balkans and Serbia, it's clear that there's a lot of disinformation, but it comes from the core of the message and then from all the tools they use in this manipulation to portray Putin as some kind of peacemaker.
This contradicts all the facts and everything we know, not only since February 22, but before. I like the clarity of the term “Putin’s War,” because I think that’s exactly what it is. And I hope, I hope not, I’m sure that in order to achieve peace, we must first fight this disinformation, which is a kind of self-defense by Russia. No, it is aggression against Ukraine. It is Putin’s war, and it is very important to fight this disinformation.

The Geopost: How widespread is disinformation in Serbia?

Djuric: Very similar to Russia, not only because we have three major Russian broadcasters in Serbia and this news and information network shared with pro-government portals.
The current Serbian government under President Vučić is based on spreading disinformation and slandering everyone else: opposition parties, civil society, and citizens who oppose it.
Disinformation about the European Union and the political West is very present. But of course, so is the glorification of President Vučić and everything he does. We have five television stations in Serbia with broadcasts throughout the country, at least four of which are dedicated to this kind of propaganda. And the newspapers are so open about it, so shameless, that sometimes we ask ourselves, who can believe such things? But people are exposed to it, and in a way, we can't blame them.

The Geopost: What steps should Balkan countries take to effectively counter Russian disinformation campaigns?

Djuric: It's an unfair war against disinformation. It's an unfair war. Our hands are tied when it comes to our standards, the way we do things, professionally and politely. Our adversary is using everything in his arsenal. So it's a completely different story. But from our experience in Serbia over the last six months, when people started to be interested in media literacy, in what is true and what is not, if it is related to their lives, we were hoping that a number of refugees from Russia who came to Serbia after the war started would help in some way in countering this Russian propaganda.

If tens of thousands of people fleeing Putin's regime were to come to Belgrade.
But unfortunately, that didn't happen, because it wasn't many activists who came to Serbia, but ordinary people who wanted to get on with their lives. But they are proof of that, and that has changed something in the way we see Russia's war.
In our opinion polls, we see that Putin is one of the leading politicians in the world and that Putin has the greatest support in Serbia. And this is logical, given that he has been considered a great leader for 20 years (not just the last three years), for 20 years. But why is he a great leader? Because he is a strong man, because he does not respect norms and democracy. This is what people see in him, and this is why they support him.
But now we are seeing huge protests not only from the opposition and civil society, but also from ordinary citizens against this kind of strongman in Serbia, against Vučić. So it takes time to connect the dots. But where democracy is not valued, that is the most fertile ground for disinformation.

The Geopost: You said that, unlike Kosovo civil society, Serbian civil society works against the government instead of helping it. Does this speak more about weak Serbian politics or about civil society?

Djuric: I see a difference between the relationship between civil society and the government, but also the state in general. I have always admired or envied civil society in Kosovo because it has been on the same page with the government on important issues, regardless of which government it was. And this is building democracy, building institutions, following the European path and the clear desire to build a society and a country based on Western values.

In Serbia, it's different. We come from these values, we do everything based on these values, but our government is not like that. So, we are against the government in these very basic terms. And normally, it's not a clear battle because our government is pro-European. We are on the right track to join the EU. We are one step ahead of Kosovo, but fundamentally, the Vučić government is anti-democratic, anti-European and anti-Western. And so we are in a situation where even our Western partners have difficulty putting their trust in Serbian civil society because they have a government that they are working with. But I hope that times are changing. I hope that in the future, everything will be clearer, to see who is who and what is what, who is really for democracy and EU integration and against Putin's war and Putin's view of the world and the future of the world, and who is on the other side.
And when the sky is clearer, the fight against disinformation will be easier, I think. /The Geopost/