Balkan Investigative Reporting Network: Over EUR250,000 for Pro-Vucic Organizations in Region

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (BETA/Nenad Petrovic)

The Serbian Foreign Ministry has awarded more than EUR250,000 to expatriate groups that support the Serbian Progressive Party or advance right-wing views, an Oct. 17 report by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network has revealed.

"The Serbian diaspora administration has paid out at least EUR250,000 over the last three years to Serbian expatriate organizations in North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia which publicly promote the [Serbian Progressive Party], signal-boost Russian narratives, glorify war criminals or advocate a right-wing, anti-gender rhetoric," the report reads, adding that neither the ministry nor the administration responded to requests for a comment.

"In Serbia itself, the diaspora administration regularly funnels funds to local organizations that claim to support the Serbian diaspora in the region," the report added. According to the report, the Izrazajnost (Expressiveness) association received a total of EUR23,800 in 2023 and 2024 for two projects to promote the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network has learned that actor Milan Bosiljcic, who in 2023 was among many public figures who signed on to support the Serbian Progressive Party, is a representative of the organization. "Last year, the administration gave EUR8,500 to the Association of War Veterans of Serbian countries 1990-1999 for youth summer camps. Association head Zeljko Vukelic earlier sparked a public outcry when he sent children aged 11 to 15 to military camps in Russia in 2017, where the children were taught to handle weapons," the report noted.