What changed
2026-07-27 20:45 UTC → 2026-07-28 16:58 UTC ·
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Balkans journalist threats and press‑freedom attacks repression
Journalist intimidation Press‑freedom violations in the Balkans intensified accelerated through July 2026. ANEM’s July report noted ANEM recorded 71 threat and or attack cases against Serbian journalists in Serbia during the first half of the year—a year, a 45 % rise on 2025—with 2025, while police withholding withheld details in 28 cases and only one proceeding proceeded to prosecution. Over In the past preceding two‑and‑a‑half years, just 10 of 279 opened cases resulted in any judicial measure, underscoring near‑total impunity. leaving most perpetrators unpunished. Four Serbian journalists fled, raising reporters have fled Serbia, taking the exile total of journalist exiles to six. The campaign against High‑profile attacks continued. TV Nova S reporter Đorđe Mijailović escalated was targeted after his July 14 police statement a police‑statement on an unverified claim of a child’s death during a protest; child‑death claim; Valjevo station V5 broadcast aired a ten‑minute segment on 16 August accusing him of false reporting, displaying revealing private photos and attacking his lawyer. V5, recently acquired by Best Media Teams, has received more than lawyer, while receiving over 6.73 million dinars in public funding, highlighting a broader effort to silence independent media. Threats to journalists continued to grow. UNS recorded funding. Online harassment surged, with 98 threats recorded in the first half of 2026, double the prior year, with many occurring online—bot 2026—bot attacks, hacking attempts and DDoS assaults—and assaults—alongside physical incidents assaults such as a tomato thrown at N1 reporter Gordana Bjeletić during a Pride parade in Pirot. Police swiftly arrested a suspect who threatened Justice Minister Nenad Vujić and chief prosecutor Nenad Stefanović, but out of 111 journalist‑related threats reported since early 2025, only one case reached a final court ruling. In late July, ANEM reported fresh death threats against reporters Marko Vidojković and Nenad Kulačin posted on the Instagram account “lesicslobodan”. The threats were referred forwarded to the Special Prosecutor’s Office for High‑Tech Crime, with ANEM again contrasting underscoring the rapid contrast between swift arrests for threats to ministers and the scant response to threats against ministers media workers. The repression landscape broadened with journalist Jasmina Paunović alleging that a criminal complaint for alleged hate speech was politically motivated, accusing public prosecutor Nenad Stefanović of using the limited action on threats law to media workers. silence dissent as Serbia pursues EU accession. Simultaneously, NGOs documented a rise in violence against LGBTQ+ persons, including a stabbing of a transgender woman on a Belgrade bus, reflecting a hostile climate that intertwines hate‑based attacks and press‑freedom pressures.