Serbia’s media freedom has reached its lowest point in over two decades, despite a slight improvement in its global ranking, according to the 2025 World Press Freedom Index published Friday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Serbia climbed two spots to 96th place out of 180 countries in this year’s index, positioning it between Tanzania and Brunei. However, RSF officials say the apparent progress masks a deeper deterioration in press freedoms.
“This minimal rise is not due to improvements in Serbia, but rather to declining scores in other countries,” said Pavol Szalai, head of RSF’s EU and Balkans Desk, in a statement to local news agency FoNet. “Serbia’s actual score fell by nearly one point to 53.55 – the worst result since RSF began tracking media freedom 23 years ago.”
RSF now places Serbia second to last in Europe, ahead of only Kosovo, which the organization assesses separately. The country remains categorized as having a “difficult situation” for press freedom, the second-worst classification on the RSF scale.
Political Pressure and Legal Harassment
The watchdog attributes the ongoing decline to systematic political and legal pressure. Szalai cited the ruling Serbian Progressive Party’s use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), political intimidation, and arbitrary surveillance targeting independent media outlets and civil society organizations.
One of the most alarming developments, RSF noted, was the police raid earlier this year on the Belgrade-based NGO CRTA, which runs the prominent fact-checking site Istinomer. Szalai compared such actions to the tactics of the authoritarian regime of Slobodan Milošević in the 1990s.
Efforts by Serbia’s public broadcaster to report more independently have faced sustained government resistance. “This reflects a broader trend across the Western Balkans, including in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo,” Szalai said.
The RSF also raised concerns over the Serbian government’s tacit support of Russian disinformation efforts. Russian state-funded broadcaster RT Balkan launched a new TV channel in Serbia at the end of 2024, deepening fears of media polarization.
Attacks Continue in 2025
Although the 2025 index does not account for several recent incidents, RSF noted a surge in physical assaults, verbal threats, and attempts to obstruct journalists’ work in the first quarter of the year. Some of these involved politicians and activists aligned with the ruling party.
Still, independent media outlets showed resilience in 2024, supported by segments of the public. “This collective effort helped prevent an even more dramatic collapse of media freedoms,” Szalai said.
Regional Landscape: Mixed Signals Across the Balkans
Serbia’s media environment is among the most restrictive in the Western Balkans, with only Kosovo ranking lower at 99th – a dramatic fall of 24 places compared to 2024. Other countries in the region saw mixed results:
Montenegro: 37th (up three spots)
North Macedonia: 42nd (down six)
Albania: 80th (up 19)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 86th (down five)
Croatia: 60th (down 12)
Slovenia: 33rd (up nine), the highest-ranked in the former Yugoslavia
Among major global players, the United States dropped to 57th, while Russia and China remained near the bottom at 171st and 178th respectively.
Global Media Freedom in Crisis
For the first time since its inception, RSF has classified the global media freedom situation as “severe.” Although violence against journalists remains a visible threat, RSF emphasized that economic pressure is now a critical, though often underestimated, factor undermining press independence.
“This pressure stems from media ownership concentration, advertiser influence, opaque state funding, and shrinking revenues,” said RSF editor Anne Bocandé. “When newsrooms are financially vulnerable, they are more likely to sacrifice editorial integrity or fall under the influence of oligarchs and political elites.”
Bocandé called for urgent structural reforms to restore financial independence to media outlets. “Quality journalism requires resources. Without economic security, journalists cannot resist disinformation, propaganda, or manipulation,” she said.
