Media Watchdog: Euractiv a Shamefully Pro-Regime Platform

Igor Zezelj: Business Dealings with the Authorities

In a July 4 late-night tweet, the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) called independent media network Euractiv “shameful” for “allow[ing] itself to become a platform for the apparent promotion of the Serbian government while neglecting to address the attacks against #freemedia and the massive protests on the streets of #Belgrade.”

Euractiv specializes in EU-related news and has recently partnered in Serbia with Mondo Portal, which operates within Igor Zezelj’s Adria Media Group.

BMFI’s tweet came on the heels of Euractiv Srbija’s July 4 Brussels panel discussion titled “Beyond the ‘Yes, But’ Idiom: Envisioning Serbia’s Future in the EU,” which included Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Serbian Minister of European Integration Tanja Miscevic, EC Director for Neighborhood and Enlargement Gert Jan Koopman and European Parliament MP and rapporteur for Serbia Vladimir Bilcik.

The accusatory Twitter statement also called out EC Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell and the European Commission.

According to its web presentation, the Balkan Free Media Initiative is “an independent watchdog that monitors the media environment across the ’new democracies’ in the ’old continent’ for inaccuracy, bias and censorship.”