World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders – Serbia ranked 96th.
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the international organization Reporters Without Borders has published the latest Press Freedom Index for this year. The head of the EU-Balkans desk at Reporters Without Borders, Pavol Salaj, exclusively told the Association of Independent Electronic Media that Serbia's advancement by two places (96th out of 180 countries) is an illusion, as Serbia's score has actually fallen by 0.92 points (53.55 on a scale of 0 to 100). According to him, it is evident that media freedom in the country has further deteriorated. He explains that Serbia's progress can be attributed more to the decline of other countries, including Kosovo.
- In fact, Serbia's score has reached a record low level in the 23-year history of the Index, emphasizes Salaj, adding that Serbia remains second to last in the EU-Balkan zone, which consists of 40 countries.
Serbia continues to be ranked as a country with a "difficult" situation regarding press freedom (marked in orange on the Index map), which is the second worst category out of the existing five.
According to Salaj, the decline in media freedom in Serbia is driven by political and legal factors. He explains that this can be attributed to the ruling party's efforts to stifle independent journalism through political attacks, abuses of lawsuits (SLAPP), and arbitrary surveillance, and adds that the arbitrary search of the fact-checking portal Istinomer in 2025 confirms this very dangerous trend, as well as the abuse of law enforcement aimed at intimidating and discrediting critics, reflecting the authoritarian practices of Slobodan Milošević's regime from the 1990s.
- The attempts by the public service to report more independently have faced strong disapproval from the government, said Pavol Salaj, adding that in this regard, Serbia is part of a broader trend in the Balkans that Reporters Without Borders also observes in Albania (80th place), Bosnia (86th), and Kosovo (99th).
He assesses that, on the other hand, Serbian authorities have favored the uncontrolled spread of Russian propaganda, with RT Balkan launching its TV channel at the end of 2024. Moreover, the Index for 2025 does not yet account for all the numerous violations that occurred in the early months of 2025: numerous physical attacks, attempts to block media, and verbal abuse by SNS politicians and pro-regime activists.
- Despite political hostility and thanks to public support, independent media demonstrated their resilience and fortitude in a crisis situation in 2024, which prevented further harm to press freedom in Serbia, concluded Salaj in a statement regarding the release of the latest Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
