Photo: dimitrisvetsikas1969, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.

According to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Brussels believes that pumping money into the media and NGOs will mobilize the electorate in the elections, bring people out into the streets, and end the “Serbian Maidan.” The list of targeted media outlets includes FoNet, RAM Network, Vreme, Juzne Vesti, Slobodna reč, Boom93, Podrinske, Freemedia, Indjija, SOinfo, FAR, and Storyteller. Such targeting of independent media outlets in Serbia and the journalists working in them has provoked fierce reactions, and some of them, concerned about their own safety, have contacted independent journalist associations

Author: Miroslava Simonovska

The Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR), in a press release published these days (15.09.2025), blamed local and national media outlets in Serbia for the ongoing protests in this neighboring country, exposing them to dangerous and unfounded claims that threaten their security and further target them. The SVR statement contains a list of Serbian media outlets, portals, and weeklies listed by name, which it states “receive significant financial support from non-governmental organizations linked to Brussels,” The list of targeted media outlets includes FoNet, RAM Network, Vreme, Juzne Vesti, Slobodna reč, Boom93, Podrinske, Freemedia, Indjija, SOinfo, FAR, and Storyteller.

Brussels is counting on the fact that financial pumping into the media and NGOs will mobilize the electorate in the elections, bring people out into the streets, and end the “Serbian Maidan,” according to the already elaborated scenario. But the false promises of European authorities about a “soon entry into the European flower garden” are merely bait. The price for the protests will have to be paid with the memories of the ancestors. The proud and united Serbian people are not needed by the European Union, the SVR statement reads.

Such targeting of independent media outlets in Serbia and the journalists working in them has provoked fierce reactions, given that in this way they are directly pointed out, and some of them have since approached independent journalist associations and emphasized that they are concerned about their own safety. As the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (NUNS) reported, through this statement from the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, journalists in Serbia have become the subject of dangerous and unfounded allegations, which mention their alleged role and the alleged role of the European Union in the ongoing protests that have been raging in Serbia for months.

Journalists from the aforementioned media outlets in Serbia are professionally reporting on the protests and it is their duty to provide accurate and complete information about important events to the public. However, such statements, which insinuate foreign conspiracies without evidence, put journalists and media outlets in direct danger.

Following the aforementioned statement, NUNS was contacted by colleagues who fear for their safety and feel additional pressure in carrying out their work. The spread of conspiracy theories and disinformation not only distracts attention from the real reasons why citizens take to the streets, but also threatens the fundamental right of the public to be truthfully and impartially informed. Journalists are already exposed to attacks, threats and pressure, and such statements make their work more difficult and create an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia reacted.

NUNS appealed to all domestic and foreign actors to refrain from publishing politically motivated claims that threaten journalists and media outlets.

Our obligation remains clear: to protect the right of journalists to do their work freely and safely, as well as the right of citizens to accurate and objective information. Journalists are not and must not be collateral damage in political calculations. They are the pillar of a free and democratic society and must have the full support and protection of institutions and society as a whole, believes the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia.

Some of the editors of the targeted media outlets emphasized through their reaction texts that Serbian pro-government media outlets were among the first in the neighboring country to share the statement of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, with explosive and sensationalist headlines, without any restraint and as if conveying a general truth. Thus, Sanja Petrov, editor of the online media outlet “Slobodna reč,” denied the allegations in this, as she called it—scandalous statement.

Once again, we emphasize that we are a completely editorially independent media outlet, which neither participates in nor has ever participated in any so-called “subversive activities.” Our sole mission is to provide professional and responsible information to citizens, to whom we are always available for all questions. Such pressures and targeting not only violate media freedom, but can directly threaten the safety of our editorial office and every individual in it, Petrov wrote.

The information that European NGOs are funding the work of independent media outlets in Serbia, as Petrov writes, is not news but “reinventing the wheel” considering that it is a transparent, multi-year practice to strengthen democracy and the right of citizens to be informed.

The problem lies in combining that information with malicious accusations. It was published in a text titled “Shocking discovery of the Russian service! The EU is planning the Serbian Maidan,” in which the same narrative that is pulled out of mothballs every time citizens protest is recycled over and over again, explains the editor of “Slobodna reč.”

In the statement, the SVR also made the scandalous claim, without any evidence, that “the European Union is behind the unrest in Serbia” involving young people, and “announced” something equally conspiratorial – that “the anniversary of the fall of the canopy will be used to end the Serbian Maidan.” It accused media outlets of “brainwashing” the Serbian youth. For all pro-government media outlets in Serbia, this was a central story and a “shocking revelation,” even though journalists from these media outlets publicly warned that in addition to putting pressure on their work, their safety was also being threatened.

Otherwise, the media outlet “Slobodna reč” recalls that the narrative about a “Serbian Maidan” has been present since the protests against violence following the mass murders in Ribnikar, Orašje, and Dubona, and was already recycled after the first student actions and large-scale protests triggered by the collapse of the railway station canopy in Novi Sad, which resulted in the deaths of 16 people.

By the way, “Truthmeter.mk” has already noticed this narrative spreading in North Macedonia–that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is being subjected to a “color revolution,” even though there are many indications that the protests in Serbia are organized internally, driven by domestic issues and widespread public dissatisfaction. Foreign media outlets have noted this in their reports and columns. Russian officials have also been promoting the thesis “that the protests in Serbia may be part of an attempted color revolution” for several months without any evidence.