In the report "Nations in transition" (Nations in Transit 2023), published by the American non-governmental organization Freedom House, states that only at first sight there was an improvement in political pluralism during 2022 due to the participation of the opposition in the elections after a multi-year boycott, but that the electoral process is still marred by irregularities, despite inter-party dialogues aimed at improving electoral conditions. Repeated elections at one polling station
and failure to determine the election results a record 93 days after the elections were held, are the most controversial aspects of last year's extraordinary parliamentary elections for the FH.
The fight against crime is the same as the fight within the SNS
When it comes to the fight against organized crime and corruption, Freedom House reminds that the trial of the Veljko Belikuva clan - accused of kidnappings, murders and rapes - began in October 2022. "While the government presents the case as proof of its fight against organized crime, the accused gang members spoke about their ties to the ruling parties during the trial," FH writes.
It is also added that major cases of corruption and organized crime, such as the trial of former State Secretary of the Interior Ministry Dijana Hrkalović and the owner of the Jovanjica plantation Predrag Koluvija, led to "mutual accusations of state and public officials for alleged links with organized crime."
"These cases strongly prove that the fight against organized crime is connected with internal party conflicts in the ruling coalition," states the Freedom House report for Serbia.
The non-governmental organization also refers to the findings of the European Commission's report that there was a "slight increase in first-instance verdicts in high-level corruption cases", but that there is again a "lack of investigations into whistleblower reports, such as the case with the Krusik arms factory, one of the largest corruption scandals in recent years".
In the section on the fight against corruption, Freedom House states that there have been "significant delays" in reforms related to this area, "while major corruption cases point to links between government officials and organized crime."
REM – captive institution
In the report on Serbia, although there was no decline compared to last year, Freedom House states that the negative development of media freedom continued in 2022. The report refers to data from the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS), which recorded 132 cases of attacks on journalists. "While this represents a decrease compared to 2020 and 2021, it is still the highest number of attacks in the last 10 years," the report said.
It also points to the continued use of SLAPP lawsuits against the media, which "remains a troubling issue." It is recalled that only the investigative portal KRIK received 11 SLAPP lawsuits last year, but also at the request of Reporters without Borders to the state to implement preventive measures to protect the media.
It also mentions the decision of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) to extend the national broadcasting frequencies for the next eight years to televisions close to the government, "which have not fulfilled the obligations and conditions for obtaining licenses."
"Although the REM was supposed to make a decision on the fifth national frequency by November 26, this decision has been postponed indefinitely. Although it represents another step backwards in the Serbian problem with media pluralism and balanced representation of political actors, this development additionally argues for the assessment that REM is a captive institution," the report states.
In the section on media, the state company Telekom is also mentioned as "another instrument of state control over the media sector", which "continued to assert its dominance as a cable provider and cornered the private company SBB owned by the United Group".
"Promotional campaigns of SBB were conducted even in public institutions. The fight between the two rival companies - Telekom and United Group - goes beyond commercial competition, considering that Telekom's network does not broadcast the main critical media in the country, N1 and Nova S".
It is added that this creates a serious threat to media freedom in Serbia, because in this case "there is a thin line between commercial and political interests".
Defamation campaigns
Freedom House also noted that civil society continues to work in an atmosphere of defamatory campaigns launched by media close to the authorities and members of the ruling parties.
In the part of the report on the state of democratic institutions, Freedom House states that during the last year, the political discourse was largely dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as demands that Serbia comply with European sanctions against Russia.
SP/European Western Balkans
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