Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic wrote in an X post that “media under Solak’s influence” are extemists advocating a violent change of government”.
She added that those media outlets (which she did not name in the post) are calling for violence only because of Dragan Solak’s business interests. Solak is a founder of the United Group which owns N1, Nova S and other independent media in Serbia through its subordinate company United Media. A recently leaked audio recording of a conversation between United Group CEO Stan Miller and state-controlled Telekom Serbia’s CEO Vladimir Lucic showed that they were planning changes in the United Media top management at the request of President Aleksandar Vucic.
Brnabic used the term colored revolution which state officials have been using in a derogatory sense for the student anti-government protests. There is no evidence of any of the claims she made in her X post: “Media under Šolak’s influence no longer even hide that they have nothing to do with journalism, but are extremists advocating for a violent change of government. It is important, once again, to point out that they promote calls for violence on the streets solely and exclusively because it serves the business interests of the man who pays them—Dragan Šolak. He sold them for 1.6 billion euros, and now he wants to maintain influence over them in order to further increase his wealth at the expense of this country and our citizens. There is nothing here but a desire for more money, more power, and a desire for revenge against Aleksandar Vučić because he defended the state from them, instead of, as all those before him did, subordinating the state to Šolak’s interests. And, once again, after such blatant calls for violence and the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, where is the prosecution, where are the institutions, where are the Press Councils, ANEMs, UNSs, and NUNSs to remind us what journalism and the role of the media in society are, and what they most certainly are not?
Solak is not the majority owner of United Group since London-based investment fund BC Partners holds the majority shares packet and takes all key decisions. Solak is a minority shareholder and cannot sell the company on his own nor did he earn anything on his own from the sale of SBB as Brnabic claims and all that is confirmed in the ownership documents.
Accusations that N1 and Nova TV stations called for violence against the president or the overthrow of constitutional order have never been backed up with facts. On the contrary, journalists from those media outlets have been subjected to threats, assaults and orchestrated smear campaigns over their professional reporting.
The term colored revolution is part of the political narrative used by the Serbian authorities to protray every civil uprising and critical reporting as an outside attempt to destabilize the country. The claims made by Brnabic are not just political rhetoric but are part of a wider campaign to discredit independent newsrooms and journalists. The facts are simple:
- Solak could not sell United Group or its media outlets
- N1 and Nova never called for violence
- Colored revolution exists only in statement by the authorities.
Everything else is dangerous political propaganda.
Source: N1
