In Serbia, journalists are working under duress. They are being berated, bullied, spied on and even physically assaulted. In the field they are insulted, intimidated and attacked. On TV, they are targeted by the top public officials of the country, including President Vučić himself.

This is a textbook example of censorship, with all pressure tactics in full view, seeding and instigating a hostile environment for professional journalists and media workers.

Press freedom is under fire, but the EU keeps mostly silent. Deals to be made, stability to be protected? At what cost?

Meanwhile, Serbia just scored its lowest points in the 23-year history of the World Press Freedom Index.

“Media freedom in a state of emergency”, concluded the latest report by Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), underlining alarming findings about the deteriorating state of press and media freedom in Serbia.

The data is shocking. In a country with complete impunity for the murders of three prominent Serbian journalists between 1994 and 2001, the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS) recorded 123 incidents against journalists, among these 15 physical attacks, 71 pressures and 34 verbal threats, just since the beginning of 2025.

The most recent attacks occurred during a rally organised by Serbia’s ruling party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). in the city of Niš on May 17. The correspondent of Australian radio SBS, Nikola Doderović, was detained while reporting and kept for questioning for more than an hour and a half before being released.

Tamara Radovanović, journalist of Južne Vesti, was attacked. Instead of removing the attacker from the scene, the police instead removed the journalist, preventing her from continuing to report.

“The image of the assailant is clearly visible on the video and the fact that the police did not approach him, identify him and take him into custody, instead of preventing the journalist from continuing to do her job, underlines that is has become a rule that after an attack, thugs are more protected than victims”, said Veran Matić, chairperson of the management board of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM). “In the past six months alone, there have been more than 20 physical attacks on journalists. None of them have been legally punished. That only encourages attackers

While covering a public event organised by SNS in a village near Kosjerić, on May 16, N1 cameraman Marjan Vučetić, was attacked from behind with blows to his back and neck. He was then physically ejected from the tent in which the event was taking place. In attendance at the event on May 16 was ruling SNS party President, Miloš Vučević, who was visiting the village. The event organiser, SNS, did not react to stop the attack on the cameraman.

On the same day, photojournalist Gavrilo Andrić was detained by police while covering citizens’ protests in front of the courthouse in Novi Sad. Although he was released after two hours, he was prevented from doing his job and from documenting current events.

Commenting on this most recent event, Matić told IPI that “Depriving media workers of their freedom speaks most directly of the intention not to allow the public to be informed about the events that most directly concern them. Objective and timely information is the only light in the darkness of disinformation.”

On May 7, shortly after World Press Freedom Day, editor-in-Chief of KoSSev, Tatjana Lazarević, experienced problems while filming pro-government protesters in Pionirski Park, opposite the Assembly of Serbia. A young man approached her in a confrontational manner, aggressively asking why she was filming. During the World Labor Day rallies, an Insajder TV journalist Stefan Miljuš was attacked while reporting on the event organized by the SNS.

Check the full report