THE MEDIA SCENE IN SERBIA IN JULY 2026.
Monitoring Report of ANEM for July 2026 on Freedom of Expression, Old and New Regulations, and Analysis of SLAPP Lawsuits.
This month's Monitoring topics included: key points from the Resolution on Serbia adopted by the European Parliament in 2025, the actions of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade regarding military analyst Aleksandar Radić and the reactions this conduct provoked among the expert community, the ban on entry into Serbia issued to Petar Komnenić, a journalist and host of the show "Načisto" on TV Vijesti, and Vuk Maraš, director of the organization BIRN Montenegro.
In July, Vladimir Arsenijević, a writer and president of the KROKODIL association, was physically attacked. Journalists were grossly obstructed while carrying out their journalistic duties: Aleksandar Đokić from the Mašina portal, journalist Sara Stanojević from Tampon Zone, and reporter Gordana Bjeletić from TV N1 (during coverage of the Pride caravan organized in Pirot), as well as journalists from the TV Forum team from Prijepolje and production Rec Media from Užice (while reporting on the fire at the landfill in Druglići). Journalists from the internet portal FAR, media Bečejski mozaik, and Webinfo were not allowed to report from ruling party gatherings. Targeted harassment was experienced by: journalist Darija Ranković from the Kolubara editorial office, journalist Slavica Vujanac from the portal vamedia.info, journalist Selma Kolašinac from the podcast Mahala and TV N1 BiH, and correspondent Đorđe Mijailović from TV Nova S. A local public official addressed the editor-in-chief of the Žig info portal, Željko Matorčević, in an extremely inappropriate manner. An individual identified as zoran cvijanovic sent a "friendly" warning message in July to: Gordana Andrić and Jelena Veljković, journalists from BIRN, Ana Martinoli, a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts and member of the Complaints Commission of the Press Council, and Rade Đurić, a lawyer at NUNS.
In addition to the aforementioned, the Monitoring of the media scene in Serbia for July 2026 provides readers with information on the reasons why four members of the REM Council who resigned in December 2025 – Mileva Malešić, Rodoljub Šabić, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković – nevertheless participated in the Council's work; the progress and "streams" of project co-financing of media content in Serbia, as well as the criminal complaint filed against media editor Dragan Todorović of eStvarnost, which is considered by ANEM to be yet another SLAPP lawsuit.
This publication was produced with financial support from the European Union. The content is solely the responsibility of the Association of Independent Electronic Media and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union.
The text of this Monitoring report was prepared by a professional monitoring team from the law firm "Savović", in collaboration with ANEM.
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