ANEM: Russian Secret Service Backs Vucic, Campaigns against Independent Media

Photo: Pexels

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) on Sept. 16 said that statements by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) implying that critical media outlets in Serbia, with the help of the EU, had been trying to provoke “a Maidan in Serbia,” represented a joint propaganda effort of the SVR and Serbian security agencies and top politicians against independent media.

ANEM said that SVR’s claims were part of “a special propaganda war that further endangers the safety of journalists and local media outlets that report professionally,” adding that these media had been for years targeted by the highest representatives of the regime in Serbia, pro-government tabloids, TV stations, and portals,” which had especially intensified in the last few months, leading to a record number of threats, pressures and attacks on journalists.

ANEM also said that “it is no secret that in the absence of fair market competition, many critical and professional media in Serbia are partially financed with the help of grants from European and international organizations".

Meanwhile, Freedom and Justice Party leader Dragan Djilas has said that the SRV “has offered full support to the Vucic regime”, which was not the first time. He also said that the SRV did not “reveal” who was now Serbia’s representatives to the Russian-Serbian committee against “color revolutions.” “Is it still Aleksandar Vulin, the former head of the Security Information Agency, who has been sanctioned by the US for his ties with organized crime,” Djilas said.