SĆF: At least 163 cases of verbal attacks on the media by 22 state officials.

The number of attacks in October is significantly higher compared to August (137) and September (141), confirming the trend of persistent and systematic pressure on critical voices in Serbia.

The increased number of verbal attacks was also influenced by the regular autumn session of the National Assembly, as well as several orchestrated campaigns aimed at targeting journalists and accusing the media of inciting violence in the country.

The most active representatives of the ruling majority in verbal attacks on the media and media workers during October were:

• Member of Parliament from the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Nebojša Bakarec – 63 attacks
• President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić – 22 attacks
• Member of Parliament from SNS Vladimir Đukanović – 18 attacks
• President of SNS and advisor to the President of Serbia Miloš Vučević – 16 attacks
• Member of Parliament from SNS Milenko Jovanov – 13 attacks
• Speaker of the Parliament Ana Brnabić – 8 attacks

Also participating in the attacks were: Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarović, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, Minister of Information and Telecommunications Boris Bratina, Vice President of the Government of AP Vojvodina Sandra Božić, Member of Parliament Marijan Rističević, Member of Parliament Biljana Pantić Pilja, Media Advisor to the President of Serbia Suzana Vasiljević, Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starović, Minister without Portfolio Đorđe Milićević, Vice President of the Government of Serbia and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivica Dačić, Minister for Public Investments Darko Glišić, Vice President of the Assembly of AP Vojvodina Nemanja Zavišić, Member of Parliament Radoslav Milojičić Kena, Director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund Relja Ognjenović, Mayor of Novi Sad Žarko Mićin, and Director of the Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Arno Gujon (a total of 23 attacks).

High-ranking state officials used the attacks to professionally discredit journalists and media, dehumanizing and labeling media workers as traitors and foreign mercenaries. During October, the media were referred to as “shady,” “anti-Serbian,” “criminal,” “blockade-terrorist trash,” “fallen,” etc. It was heard from parliamentary benches that there is “too much media freedom” in Serbia, and journalists were increasingly threatened with arrest.

Narratives in which journalists and media are criminalized, or accused of committing or inciting criminal acts, carrying out a coup, terrorism, etc., have been abundantly used in recent times. The media have been accused, during visibly orchestrated campaigns, of advocating for a “violent change of government” and “violent overthrow of the constitutional order,” “inciting violence,” and “openly calling for revolution,” “spreading lies to destabilize the country,” and “disturbing the public.”

After the shooting and fire in the illegal tent settlement set up in front of the National Assembly, known as Ćacilend, on October 22, officials launched a campaign attempting to impose a narrative that, among others, the media bear responsibility for this incident by creating a “lynch atmosphere,” “creating conditions through incitement,” and media announcing such events, even suggesting that the shooting occurred to “please” the media.

In at least 10 cases, the targets of the attacks were media in the region, most often Croatian media, which were accused of supporting protests and insinuating a change of government in Serbia. President Aleksandar Vučić, in one address, alluded to the media from Croatia, stating that he “does not know who those guys in white who can help them are.”

The highest state officials, led by President Aleksandar Vučić and SNS leader Miloš Vučević, systematically used the current social circumstances to shape narratives in which critical journalists and media are portrayed as spreaders of lies, enemies of the state, and destabilizing factors in society. Through incendiary rhetoric and calls to institutions to “hold them accountable,” they further fueled an atmosphere of intolerance and pressure on the media.

Just before the memorial gathering on the anniversary of the death of 16 people at the railway station in Novi Sad on November 1, Aleksandar Vučić commented on NUNS's move to distribute bulletproof vests and helmets to its members, stating that it is the journalists who incite violence and yearn for wars and conflicts, and that everyone will be arrested.

The most common reasons for the attacks were:

• protests – 50 cases
• shooting in Ćacilend – 36
• campaign about “media lies” - 10
• current affairs / daily politics – 54
• reporting by RTS – 13

TOP #5

— Ana Brnabić, Speaker of the Parliament

“The media under Šolak's influence no longer even hide that they have nothing to do with journalism, but are extremists advocating for a violent change of government. It is important to note again that they advocate calls for violence on the streets solely and exclusively because it is in the business interest of the person paying them - Dragan Šolak. (...) And, once again, after such blatant calls for violence and violent overthrow of the constitutional order, where is the prosecution, where are the institutions, where are the Press Councils, ANEMs, UNSs, and NUNSs to remind what journalism is and the role of the media in society, and what it definitely is not?”

— Miloš Vučević, President of SNS and advisor to the President of Serbia

“And the question arises when we as a nation and a state will heal from this disease that allows people who are destroying the state, not just a party or some faction, but the state, to use the most disgusting lies, to spread the most disgusting things in public, and then not be held accountable for it. If we talk about democracy and the rule of law, someone who does these things should be held accountable. And I reiterate the question of when those who invented the story about the sound cannon will be held accountable, when the media that spread the information about a beaten boy who died will be held accountable. And when will those who said that Anja Pušković was kidnapped by the police and tortured be held accountable. Just three of the biggest, most significant lies, all with the aim of destabilizing the state, creating an atmosphere that leads to aggression, mutual attacks, and the overthrow of the constitutional order of our state. This is undoubtedly the ultimate goal of all this.”

— Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia

“Maybe they are going to Sudan on some charter flight. What pleases grandma, she dreams of it. They want to see some wars and some conflicts; nothing will come of that. They can provoke some one-time violence, but everyone will be arrested. They can wear whatever equipment they want. Since it is clear to them that no one else will incite violence. They know very well that they have always incited it. None of us shot to kill; they shot to kill a man and came to a place that was lawfully reported, unlike their illegal gatherings, shot a man, and I won’t talk about everything they did with the police and all the lies from the sound cannon to the dead 16-year-old boy in Valjevo, to the beaten student in the police station, and everything else. We have much bigger problems than these loser boring tricks; I don’t have time to deal with that.”

*Comment on NUNS distributing helmets and bulletproof vests to journalists before the memorial gathering in Novi Sad.

— Darko Glišić, Minister for Public Investments

“This dark media kitchen of the criminal Šolak and all those who are the creators of the colored revolution has created an atmosphere where it is completely normal to kill someone who thinks differently. He has satisfied Danica Vučenic, for example, who says before the show – let’s now dramatize something, let’s call for some violence, let’s make up something to provoke a new lie.”

— Nebojša Bakarec, Member of Parliament from SNS

“I love it when the fallen media of the criminal Šolak - N1, Nova, Danas, demonize me. I love it when I hurt the media of the criminal Šolak. As Dušan Kojić-Koja and Disciplina kičme would say - I like it when they are uncomfortable. I love it when they howl and squeal!”

Monitoring period:

October 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025.

Monitoring sample:

- The portals of three tabloids that most frequently violate the Code of Journalists of Serbia: Informer, Alo, and Republika (source: Press Council).

- Official accounts on social networks of holders of various public functions, who have stood out for frequently targeting journalists - Aleksandar Vučić, Ana Brnabić, Miloš Vučević, Vladimir Đukanović, Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski, Milenko Jovanov, Nebojša Bakarec, and Biljana Pantić Pilja.

Monitoring focus:

The focus of the monitoring is on verbal attacks by state officials on critical journalists, with the aim of determining the responsibility of the state leadership for creating and implementing campaigns against the media and media workers.

* "Attack": any form of pressure, labeling, discrediting, belittling, and negative speech about a critical media outlet or journalist

Source: Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation