Watchdog warns Serbian journalists face election threats

The Committee to Protect Journalists warned Tuesday that journalists covering Serbia's Oct. 25 snap parliamentary election are at serious risk of threats, violence and hostility. CPJ Europe representative Attila Mong called conditions alarming and said they are getting worse, citing assaults on reporters at rallies and an increasingly febrile online atmosphere. N1 television journalist Danica Vucenic received a June letter threatening her and her family. She said she reports threats to authorities repeatedly with no result and called it a waste of time that will not end until Serbia becomes a democratic country. She said journalists are being treated as enemies of the state, making their existence unsafe. CPJ said a March international mission documented escalating police violence, smear campaigns fueled by public officials, impunity, and legal and digital threats. The ruling Serbian Progressive Party has been in power since 2012. CPJ urged Serbia's European partners to monitor press freedom. Serbia seeks EU membership but the effort has stalled. Vucic's right-wing populists face a youth-led movement behind nearly two years of protests triggered by a November 2024 train station tragedy. No contested facts were found across rated coverage.