N1 Program Director Igor Bozic said it is noticeable that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic no longer hides the fact that he is exerting influence on the institutions regarding the allocation of national broadcasting licenses.

“Why does he have a problem with a company taking part in the competition for the fifth national broadcasting license? He already has four that he fully controls. The problem is probably that we would not be able to direct the fifth one, to order questions and dictate the news of the day,” Bozic told the daily Danas commenting on Vucic’s statement that the goal of the Serbia Against Violence protests that are being held in Serbia is “for Dragan Solak to get a national frequency.” Solak is the founder and co-owner of United Group.

He said this is why Vucic is expressing a level of frustration and linking the civic protests with the national broadcasting frequency.

“What is his problem with the professional journalists who are refusing to do as he says? Absolute media control is the main lever of his power and he will to anything to prevent pluralism on the media scene and criticism from being heard,” said Bozic.

Reacting to Vucic’s recent statement, Nova S TV News Director Slobodan Georgiev said the President had said yet another lie.

“The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) should have passed a decision in that competition at the beginning of the year, they of course did not and today we heard another lie from Vucic – that a national frequency for Nova S TV is a protest demand, which is not true,” Georgiev told N1.