On 11 August 2034 during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić allegedly criticized media from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo, as also Serbia. The conference was held in response to a series of protests against the Serbian government’s decision to resume lithium ore mining in Serbia. This controversial project had been halted by state authorities in 2022 following public opposition. However, a government decree on 16 July 2024, announced the revival of the project, sparking a new wave of protests, including large-scale demonstrations in Belgrade on 10 August 2024, where two railway stations were blocked.
During the press conference, Vučić allegedly criticized several media outlets, including Oslobođenje daily (https://www.oslobodjenje.ba/) from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jutarnji list daily (https://www.jutarnji.hr/) from Zagreb, Croatia, Dnevno.hr (https://www.dnevno.hr/) from Zagreb, Croatia, as well as the magazine Slobodna Bosna (https://www.slobodna-bosna.ba/) from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He allegedly accused these media outlets of being biased in their coverage of the protests, particularly in how they portrayed the environmental and political implications of the government’s decision. Vučić insinuated that these outlets were deliberately trying to destabilize Serbia.
The video from the press conference is online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCX61swMPA .
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the targeting and criticizing media outlets during the recent press conference. The role of journalists is to serve as the voice of the people, reporting objectively and critically on matters of public interest, including government actions. Such attempts to intimidate and discredit the press undermine the essential function of the media in a democratic society.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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