Serbia is becoming the Balkan Cuba
AMO
/ Ed. 2. 12. 2024
The annual report of the European Commission on the state of Serbia's EU integration went largely unnoticed in the Serbian public, particularly the section calling on Serbia to ensure a favorable environment for civil society and the media, and to “make credible efforts to combat disinformation and foreign manipulation of information.” This, of course, primarily refers to Russian and Chinese media influence, so it is entirely logical that this part of the EC report went unnoticed by Serbia's pro-government "media," which almost completely ignored it.
As is well known, one of the main goals of propaganda is the spread of disinformation and the creation of divisions within society. In Serbia, which has had very negative experiences with personality cults such as those of Josip Broz Tito and Slobodan Milošević, this has led to the resurgence of a personality cult. This time, it involves the rise of idolization of the current President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
All of this has led to the total collapse of state institutions and the complete centralization of power in the hands of one man, who effectively holds executive, legislative, and judicial authority. State institutions, which according to the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia are supposed to operate independently, have ceded their authority to the President of Serbia, who activates or deactivates them at will.
The article by Aleksandar Roknić was originaly published with the support of the project Enhancing the Capacities of Serbian Investigative Journalists in Mapping Foreign Influence in Serbia by Danas. You can read the original version in Serbian here.
