The annual Freedom in the World 2026 report classified Serbia as partly free with the country’s rating dropping over the past year.
“Serbia lost 3 points after authorities retaliated against teachers and professors who participated in widespread, student-led anticorruption protests by withholding pay and employment contracts. At the same time, police used excessive force against protesters and failed to protect them from armed gangs,” the Freedom House report said.
“In Serbia, which has faced democratic backsliding under President Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian Progressive Party, police and intelligence services have reportedly deployed a variety of spyware products to surveil journalists, civil society actors, and protest organizers. For example, at least dozens and perhaps hundreds of personal devices have been targeted with a unique spyware tool referred to as NoviSpy, but the exact number is unknown given that authorities have installed it secretly during arrests, detentions, and police interviews. Such actions have contributed to Serbia’s overall score decline in Freedom in the World in recent years, as awareness of unchecked state surveillance motivates self-censorship among ordinary citizens,” the report said.
It said that participants in the anti-government protests that began in 2024 faced violent police responses, prompting concern from watchdogs as well as the European Parliament and Council of Europe. Protest supporters and individuals perceived to be associated with the movement also faced attacks by nonstate actors. Educators seen as supporting student-led protest actions faced government pressure. “Although freedom of assembly is constitutionally guaranteed, protesters have faced prosecution for “preparing acts against the constitutional order and security of Serbia” and “calling for a violent overthrow of the constitutional order.”
The report said that the Serbian authorities continued to threaten independent media. In June, President Aleksandar Vučić called reporting by major outlets N1 and Nova S “pure terrorism,” and suggested that the prosecutor’s office could take action against them.
The ruling SNS has used various tactics to unfairly reduce the opposition’s electoral prospects, the report said adding that these include manipulating the timing of snap elections, exerting pressure on independent state institutions, busing in voters from neighboring countries or districts, and mobilizing public resources to support its campaigns.
The SNS has expanded its influence over the media through its effective control of both state-owned enterprises and an array of private outlets that are dependent on government funding, and has harnessed this influence to strengthen its political position and discredit its rivals. Opposition figures have also faced harassment, intimidation, and violence in recent years.
“The government has received sustained criticism for a lack of transparency on matters including public tenders, infrastructure and extractive-industry projects, and travel restrictions based on supposed threats to national security. The Law on Public Procurement has not been applied to the state-funded Belgrade Waterfront project, the construction of the Moravski corridor highway by Chinese companies, the South Stream gas pipeline, or the exhibition area for EXPO 2027.
“Legislators do not have adequate opportunities to ask questions about government activities and legislation, and the vast majority of parliamentary questions go unanswered by the government.
“Public officials are subject to asset-disclosure rules overseen by the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, but penalties for violations are uncommon. While a 2004 freedom of information law empowers citizens and journalists to obtain information of public importance, authorities frequently obstruct requests in practice.
“Despite a legal framework that guarantees freedom of the press, journalists in Serbia are exposed to intimidation, editorial pressure from politicians and politically connected media owners, selective bans from official venues, and abusive lawsuits aimed at denying the public access to investigative journalism. Defamation has been only partly decriminalized. In December 2024, Amnesty International reported that Serbian authorities were using commercial spyware products against journalists and others in the country.
“The REM has been criticized for a lack of active involvement in upholding media pluralism and a lack of independence, particularly when deciding on allocation of national broadcast frequencies. In July 2025, the International Press Institute, a global network of independent media workers, noted “significant concerns regarding the impartiality of the process” of electing new REM members. The state and ruling party exercise influence over private media in part through advertising contracts and other indirect subsidies. Many private outlets are owned by SNS supporters.
“The media environment features extreme propaganda and the manipulation of facts around certain topics, including the war in Ukraine, the relationship between the ruling parties and the opposition, and Serbian policy on Kosovo. Some privately owned national broadcasters and popular tabloids regularly participate in smear campaigns against the political opposition and other perceived government opponents.
“Independent investigative media groups are subject to harassment and intimidation by authorities, tabloid outlets, and progovernment groups. Financial and regulatory pressures are applied against independent media outlets in an effort to discourage partnerships with advertisers and businesses. In June 2025, President Vučić called reporting by major outlets N1 and Nova S “pure terrorism,” and suggested that the prosecutor’s office could take action against them, prompting concern from domestic and international journalists’ groups and the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform. Vučić’s remarks came after both channels had been removed from the household satellite television service EON SAT, owned by the partially state-owned Telekom Srbija.
“In 2025, educators who supported or were perceived as supporting the student-led antigovernment protests that erupted in late 2024 faced retaliation from the government. A number of teachers did not have their contracts renewed in decisions condemned by teachers’ unions and others as retaliation over the teachers’ support for the protest movement; the Independent Trade Union of Educational Workers counted more than 100 such cases. Some university professors faced smear campaigns for supporting the protesters. Authorities also adopted new rules on the calculation of instructor’s salaries at higher education institutes in response to student-led “blockades,” or cancelation of classes and exams as part of the protest movement: salaries were reduced or unpaid for faculty whose classes were not held. On numerous occasions, police confronted student protesters on university grounds, making arrests in at least one case.
“A pattern of retribution against critics of the government has contributed to an increasingly hostile environment for free expression and open debate. Perceived government opponents—including journalists, university professors, civil society leaders, celebrities, business owners, artists, and ordinary citizens—have faced smear campaigns in progovernment media outlets, criminal investigations, verbal threats, and physical attacks against them or their property and other retaliatory measures in recent years. The government’s top officials regularly criticize nonpoliticians based on their public criticism of government policies.
“The independence of the judiciary is compromised by political influence over judicial appointments, and many judges have reported facing external pressure regarding their rulings. Politicians have made direct calls for individuals to be dismissed from judicial and prosecutorial positions. In December 2025, assailants set on fire a Subotica prosecutor’s vehicle as it was parked at her home; she characterized the incident as an attack on herself and her family,” the Freedom House report said.
Source: N1
