Britain again in the fight for influence in the Balkans

The West competes with Russia in the struggle for influence in the Balkans. However, although the European Union is again showing interest in the region, the latest "offensive" is led by Britain, writes the Brussels portal Politiko. Seven years after the closure of the newsroom in Belgrade, the BBC has relaunched the service in the Serbian language, opening a website and announcing a partnership with local media. Politiko writes that the move is part of a broader struggle with soft power in the Balkans, especially in Serbia, where "pro-Russian media are pumping out fake news." It reminds of the recent Sputnik article that NATO is preparing military exercises in Bosnia and Herzegovina with depleted uranium.

The BBC will also compete with the national media, many of which publish very little, if any, critical news about President Aleksandar Vučić, according to Politiko.

"The media market and the situation in general have become much more difficult," says Artjom Lis, editor for Europe at the BBC World Service. "We think there is a demand for what the BBC offers everywhere - accurate and balanced reporting". The BBC's return to Serbia comes at a time when the West has refocused its attention on the Balkans, worried that Russia, China, Turkey and the Persian Gulf states - which have sought to increase their influence in the region in recent years - could give rival powers too much influence in southeastern Europe. writes Politiko.

Politiko points out that Russian investments in Serbia are only a small part compared to EU investments.

"However, soft power initiatives help Moscow maintain a strong presence in public opinion," the commentary said. More than 100 organizations in Serbia promote friendly ties with Russia, according to a 2016 study by the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies. Among them are eight portals, six Russian media and 16 local pro-Russian news sources, according to Politiko.

"However, the challenge for the BBC and others who see themselves on the front lines of the fight for impartial reporting is not only Moscow, but also Serbia".

According to data from Fridom House, media freedom in Serbia declined significantly after 2011, and the biggest decline was recorded after 2014, when Vučić became prime minister.

Vučić denies that he is stifling the freedom of the media, but he called some critics "scum" and he constantly describes the journalists of a research organization as "liars", writes Politiko.

In a study published in February by BIRN (Balkan Investigative Journalism Network), it is stated that 70 percent of journalists in Serbia reported that the government exerted pressure on them, with the executive branch leading the way. Stevan Dojčinović, editor of KRIK (Crime and Corruption Reporting Network), says that the main media in Serbia are more dangerous than the Russian ones.

"Most fake news comes from the mainstream media and the government. It is true that some are from Russia, but that is second-rate fake news," he said. "It's a disaster. They promote criminals and war criminals and carry out propaganda for the needs of the government". Dojčinović and his organization were the target of a slanderous campaign by pro-government tabloids. KRIK journalists were followed, and the apartment of one of them was broken into.

Media that follow pro-government and pro-Russian policies have a simple answer for critics: They provide the public with what it wants, writes Politiko.

The portal cites the example of the owner and editor-in-chief of the Informer tabloid, Dragan Vučićević, in whose office and conference room portraits of Vladimir Putin hang. He said that these positions are also profitable.

"I am a businessman. Our daily circulation is 120.000, so we are already the best-selling tabloid in Serbia. When I publish calendars with Putin, we sell 250.000," said Vučićević.

"If I had put Catherine Ashton or Juncker on the calendar, I don't think we would have sold 12 copies," he said, referring to the former EU foreign minister and current head of the European Commission.

"All papers have an attitude. You always know who the New York Times will support before an election. And our editorial policy has been clear from day one: the EU is a failed project that is falling apart," said Vučićević.

He defends Informer's attacks on critics like Dojčinović, whom the tabloid labeled as a foreign agent and a sadomasochist. Vučićević says that Dojčinović is a public figure and that the public has the right to know.

"Dojčinović is not a bus driver. He plays the supreme moral judge in Serbia," said Vučićević.

Politiko reminds us that the American ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott, said last year that Informer is "the most ordinary scum as far as news is concerned."

"The media should be based on facts, and I don't see any facts in Informer," said the American.

Aleksandar Vučić's adviser for the media, Suzana Vasilijević, says that many media organizations that present themselves as independent are headed by the president's long-term political opponents.

"Now they are using media influence to attack the current government and state policy," she said.

Vasilijević added that such media often mention that Vučić was Milošević's minister of information, but that "that is the stupidest thing they can do. Because it is very easy for us to explain that it was 20 years ago, in different circumstances".

According to Politiko, Vučić has already made it clear that he does not consider the new actor on the Serbian media market to be impartial.

"The BBC is opening in Serbia... Everything is OK, Serbia is a free country. The British have the right to pay for it," he said in an interview with TV Pink in December. However, he added "the people of Serbia must know that this is not objective information, but information in the interest of the United Kingdom".

Independent media survived the dictatorship, will not democracy

Politiko reminds that some independent media survived even during the Milosevic era. "Radio station B92 broadcasted the program throughout Belgrade, and agency Beta and Television Studio B managed to keep their distance from the regime."

However, the number of such media has halved due to controversial privatizations, self-censorship and dependence on government agencies for advertising revenue, said Snježana Milivojević, professor of journalism at the University of Belgrade.

"Independent media survived the dictatorship, but they will not survive the democracy. This is open season for hunting independent thinkers," said Milivojević. "Democracy is in serious danger".

The article reminds that the remaining independent voices are the target of smears on the Internet and in pro-government tabloids. When the Belgrade-based NGO Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability announced that Vučić's party was represented four times more than the opposition on TV Pink ahead of the March 4 local elections, that channel labeled journalist Tamara Skroza as an "enemy of the state." Serbia's media regulator received 300 complaints about it, but judged that Pink did not violate any standards.

"That rhetoric is dangerous and comes from the top of the government," says Milivojević.