December 2024.

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.

We have the involvement of Croatian services in the protests

https://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/651983/imamo-upliv-hrvatskih-sluzbi-u-proteste

After the collapse of the canopy at the reconstructed Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1, which claimed the lives of 15 people, massive protests erupted across Serbia, with citizens demanding political and criminal accountability. In the first weeks of December, the protests gained new momentum when students at nearly all faculties of state universities in Serbia initiated blockades, supported by the academic community.

The students presented concrete demands to the relevant institutions—publication of the complete documentation related to the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station, prosecution of all those responsible for attacks on students and professors during the blockades, as well as the dismissal of charges against detained students at protest gatherings. Alongside the faculty blockades, a series of mass public protests were organized, attended by tens of thousands of citizens.

Pro-regime media have continuously attempted to discredit the students’ legitimate demands, deepening divisions through their reporting and promoting questionable narratives that cast doubt on the authenticity and self-organization of the student movement. An article titled “We have the involvement of Croatian services in the protests” was published in the daily newspaper Politika.

Politika published a statement from Professor Čedomir Antić of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, who expressed suspicion that “there is involvement of Croatian intelligence services in the protests of some students across Serbia.” “The professor says there are certain indications characteristic of Zagreb’s influence on the protests,” Politika wrote, while also relaying a call for caution to the Serbian public. A few days later, Čedomir Antić authored an opinion piece for the same newspaper under the suggestive title “Croatian Service.”

In his article, Antić highlights “suspicious” facts that, from his perspective, suggest a certain degree of foreign intelligence agency involvement in organizing student blockades and student-citizen protests across the country. “It would be unbearable for me if the same generation allowed itself to be compromised by the intelligence underworld of a state that has resolved all its difficulties by harming the Serbian people and Serbia,” Antić concludes in his analysis for Politika, implying a shadow over the current events in Serbia.

During this period, other pro-regime media outlets also published reports following the same narrative about foreign interference in the organization of student protests. The Alo portal emphasized that “anti-Serbian media have published an intelligence service manual stating that it is better to overthrow the government in Serbia through protests rather than war,” adding that these media outlets are “openly working to bring down the government on behalf of foreign interests and intelligence agencies.”

Večernje novosti published an article with a sensationalist headline claiming that “the entire protest follows a CIA manual.” The report alleged that the methods of organization and student activities were taken from a document called the “blockade cookbook from Croatia.”

The claims made by pro-regime media or their sources were presented in a sensationalist manner, without convincing arguments to support them. The reporting style of media close to the Serbian government follows a familiar pattern of accusations of alleged “foreign interference”—but without providing adequate evidence. Even if students were to use comparative experiences from international practices, which are publicly available, such an approach would still constitute a legitimate form of activism.

Author: Igor Mirosavljević