As part of the program Regional Initiative for combating disinformation “Western Balkans Combatting disinformation Center: Exposing malicious influences through fact-checking and Analytical Journalism“, we present you a new analysis of fake news and disinformation narratives.
Picula is essentially telling us – Let them immediately execute what they’ve planned
https://informer.rs/politika/vesti/1018035/ana-brnabic-picula
The student and civic protests in Serbia have been ongoing for more than half a year, representing an unprecedented challenge to the current Serbian authorities. Following the largest protest gathering in decades, held on March 15 in Belgrade and attended by several hundred thousand people, the protests have continued with a different and less frequent dynamic.
On the other hand, the Serbian authorities have been conducting a continuous campaign to discredit the protest movement, promoting various narratives—most frequently those equating the protests with a “color revolution” allegedly supported by foreign and international actors. Although pro-government media rotate claims about different alleged “external influences” aiming to interfere in Serbia’s internal affairs, political figures and intelligence agencies from neighboring Croatia are notably often singled out as “sponsors” of the protest participants in Serbia. Among the individuals portrayed in an especially negative light on the front pages of pro-government media in Serbia is Tonino Picula, a Croatian Social Democratic Member of the European Parliament and the EP Rapporteur for Serbia.
Throughout May, Serbian pro-government media repeatedly targeted Tonino Picula in their reporting. One of the reasons was his public statements regarding Marija Vasić, a professor from Novi Sad who had been held in detention for over two months on charges of allegedly participating in the planning of radical actions during the large protest in Belgrade on March 15. In May, Marija Vasić began a hunger strike demanding release from what many in the public perceive as unjustified detention. In his statement, Tonino Picula called for “the release of Marija Vasić and other political prisoners in Serbia.”
The highest-circulation pro-government tabloid Informer sharply criticized Picula. In one article, Informer emphasized that “Picula is worried about the terrorist Marija Vasić” and added that “Picula is acting as if Vasić were in the Lori or Lepoglava camps and needed his concern”—referencing prison camps located in present-day Croatia during the wars of the 1990s. Informer also reiterated the Serbian authorities’ interpretation of the events allegedly planned for March 15: “Professor Marija Vasić was arrested in a police operation after it was discovered that she was among the conspirators behind a plot aimed at triggering a coup, a state overthrow, and civil war in Serbia.”
In a separate article with the indicative headline “Picula is basically telling us – Let them go so they can carry out what they’ve planned”, Informer reported on statements made by the President of the National Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić. Brnabić reiterated the key points of both media and government criticism directed at Tonino Picula, framing them within broader anti-opposition and anti-Croatian narratives. In her statement to Informer, she said: “If Tonino Picula hadn’t explained it, I wouldn’t have known that planning a violent attack and taking over the public broadcaster—at the cost of human lives if necessary—and toppling a country’s constitutional order through a military coup are apparently among the highest European values.” Brnabić added her own interpretation of Picula’s message: “When it comes to Serbia and the violent overthrow of President Vučić, everything is allowed… (the message is) let them go so they can carry out what they’ve planned.”
Following a court decision in Novi Sad, Professor Marija Vasić was subsequently transferred to house arrest—a measure later applied to other activists detained on March 15. Nevertheless, the pro-government media campaign against activists continues, along with increasingly frequent accusations against Tonino Picula and other Members of the European Parliament who have voiced criticism of the Serbian authorities.
Author: Igor Mirosavljević
