Media freedom in Serbia

IRIG - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday he did not care about reports by foreign media outlets or the opinions of foreign governments, but only about the opinion of Serbian citizens.

Vucic was speaking to reporters in Irig, northern Serbia.

Twitter has started to label accounts belonging to various pro-government media in Serbia as state-affiliated media.

Among those it deems affiliated with Serbia's government are the dailies Srpski Telegraf, Kurir, Informer, Politika, and three free-to-air channels - Happy, Prva TV and B92, RTV Pink's online portal, as well as the news agency Tanjug.

Washington – The US Department of State has released the 2020 Human Rights international report in which it also analyses the situation in Slovenia. Attacks on media and harassment of journalists in the country feature more prominently than ever, the latter being described as one of the key human rights issues in Slovenia.

Close connections with the Serbian political elite and the favourable presentation of China in Serbian media, especially from outlets close to the Serbian government, have made China one of the most popular foreign actors among Serbia's citizens.

"The threats to Zana Cimili, as to other N1 journalists, are not only threats to the individual reporters but also to freedom of speech and of the media as fundamental democratic rights," said the channel, which has reporters in countries across the former Yugoslavia.

Washington: In Bulgaria, the judicial system is ineffective, there is corruption. This was written in  the US State Department's Annual Human Rights Report.

Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces.

BIRN journalists in Serbia on Thursday held up banners asking Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had arrived in Belgrade, to release imprisoned journalists in Russia and to respect human rights.

"Free journalists," said a banner in Serbian, Russian and English held from the windows of the BIRN office, close to where supporters of Putin in Serbia were gathering for a rally.

In a statement sent to Tanjug on Wednesday, Vulin in this way responded to US Ambassador Kyle Scott, who previously said he was concerned about the media situation in Serbia.

According to the Serbian government, they discussed "the importance of implementing the principles and standards of freedom of the media and expression, as well as protection of journalists."

BRUSSELS - Following a letter from President Aleksandar Vucic's media adviser Suzana Vasiljevic, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has requested that its upcoming visit to Belgrade also include a meeting with Vucic, Tanjug learns.