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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has rejected criticisms that Serbia is stifling press freedom and imposed a state monopoly over the media. Writing in the EUobserver, Vucic responded to comments by Italian journalist Mateo Trevisan that Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party systematically violates basic media freedom. "As president of Serbia, I have rarely reacted to media attacks on the country I lead, since ... I was very aware that ... other opinion(s) and criticism ... serve to quickly change things in our country, to progress ourselves, and to ensure normal functioning and full respect for democratic norms and laws," said Vucic. On...
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A shooting incident near a NATO patrol in North Kosovo is currently being investigated, said the NATO-led peacekeeping Kosovo Force (KFOR) on Monday. KFOR said there had been no injuries following gunfire near a NATO patrol on Sunday. Latvian Ministry of Defense forces attached to the KFOR mission were involved in the incident. The incident took place in the Zubin Potok area, near the border with Serbia. NATO forces also confirmed there had been no material damage reported. "As meetings between all the parties are planned, it is important for all involved to avoid any rhetoric or actions that can...
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A Serbian court has fined investigative media outlet KRIK for publishing news linking a criminal group trial with Bratislav Gasic, Serbia’s new Interior Minister and former chief of the Security Information Agency (BIA). Gasic brought a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) lawsuit against the media outlet in May 2021. The verdict, issued by Judge Natasa Petricevic Milisavljevic, has not yet been published. The reasons for the verdict, and the resulting fine, are not yet known, said KRIK. In filing his suit, Gasic demanded half a million dinars from KRIK for injury to his honor and reputation after the media...
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A number of recent cyber attacks used sexism and ethnic hatred to target politicians and vulnerable communities, according to a new report. Groups across Serbia, Hungary and North Macedonia experienced a flare-up in online attacks in the first half of September, with attackers focussing on ethnic minorities and the LGBT community. According to investigators with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), countries throughout the region reported a number of hacker attacks and incidents of online fraud over the past month. The scale of the damage remains critically underreported, and authorities ill-equipped to prevent or prosecute these attacks. On 1 September,...
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A car belonging to a Kosovo Serb police officer was set alight on Tuesday in an attack that the Kosovo government says is linked to the ongoing licence plate dispute with Serbia. According to a Kosovo government minister, unknown assailants set fire to the police officer’s car as revenge for the officer swapping his Serbian-issued licence plates for Kosovo plates. The incident appears to mark the third time that a Kosovo Serb has been targeted for complying with a Kosovo government decree giving Kosovo Serbs until the end of September to swap over to Kosovo-issued licence plates. The Kosovo Interior...
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Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the EuroPride festival will not be held in Belgrade as planned in September, citing the “significant crisis in Kosovo.” The announcement came as a surprise to organizers of the pan-European pride celebration. The festival was originally scheduled to take place September 12-18 in the Serbian capital. EuroPride is an independently organized event hosted in a different city each year, with the host city chosen either for its political significance or the size of the city’s LGBT community. “We were shocked by this announcement,” said Marko Mihailovic, an organizer of the Belgrade Pride parade involved in...
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Croatian officials on Friday celebrated the 27th anniversary of the country’s Operation Storm military victory over rebel Serbs. Political leaders, wartime military generals and war veterans all gathered in the town of Knin to mark the event, which is credited with ending the country’s war of independence in 1995. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said large numbers of Serbs that fled Croatia as a result of Operation Storm was “a human tragedy, but that human tragedy was preceded by human greed and human stupidity of the rulers in Belgrade.” Over the course of Operation Storm, Croatian forces managed to reclaim nearly...
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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic slammed the Kosovo’s government's latest decision regarding licence plates for Serbs living in northern Kosovo, describing the move as a bid to “expel Serbs, especially from the north of Kosovo and Metohija.” Vucic said Kosovo planned to “make a new Storm,” referencing a 1995 Croatian army operation, codenamed Storm, that saw most Serbs flee Croatia. “Their Interior Ministry will campaign to persuade Serbs [in Kosovo] to register with so-called RKS [Republic of Kosovo] licence plates,” Vucic said. “If [Serbs] are not convinced, they will take away not only their license plates but also their vehicle [in...
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The Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic denied that the signing of a gas deal with Moscow on the weekend was connected to the country’s refusal to impose sanctions on Russia. “There is no sign of equality” between the low gas prices Serbia agreed to with Russia, and the fact that Serbia has not placed sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, Brnabic said. “Everyone who accuses us of not imposing sanctions on Russia because of the gas arrangement should be ashamed of themselves. We are not imposing sanctions on Russia out of principle,” she asserted “Sanctions do not contribute...
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Kosovo’s Chief State Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi said the arrest warrant for Milan Radoicic, suspected of involvement in the murder of political rival Oliver Ivanovic in January 2018, had been withdrawn for “technical and tactical reasons.” Lumezi insisted that “the criminal case against [Radoicic] continues.” “This is a very serious case. Milan Radoicic was investigated in the case of the murder of political rival Oliver Ivanovic, alongside some other people,” Lumezi told Kosovo media, “There is a decision to continue investigations into him.” Radoicic is a well-connected Kosovo Serb businessman, and vice president of the Belgrade-backed, Serb minority political party Srpska...
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