Freedom house
The state of human rights and liberties in Serbia has been on a constant decline since 2019, when it dropped from the category of free countries to that of partly free ones.
In the report “Freedom in the World 2025” that covered 208 countries and territories, Serbia was given 56 points out of the maximum of 100, which is 24 points fewer than ten years ago. Of the countries in the region, only Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked worse than Serbia, with 52 points.
Freedom House has assessed that Serbia, under the leadership of President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party, was an example of the ways in which elected leaders undermine the media. Attacks on journalists and tightening control of the media environment have been among the most prominent features of this erosion of rights and liberties in Serbia.
The report reads further that investigative journalists had faced smear campaigns, punitive tax inspections, threats from leading politicians and arrests, and that the authorities had used their control over regulation and licensing to aid pro-government media outlets. “A lack of transparency in media ownership, indirect government subsidies for media and the politicized allocation of advertising have also helped pro-government media dominate the market,” it was stated in the report. It was added that Montenegro (69) Albania (68), North Macedonia (67), Kosovo (60) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (52) were also among the partly free countries.
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