The SafeJournalists Network expresses its serious concern over Serbia’s decision to ban Montenegrin media representatives Petar Komnenić and Vuk Maraš from entering the country and calls on the Serbian authorities to immediately revoke these measures.
After Petar Komnenić, a Montenegrin journalist and host of the TV programme Načisto, was unofficially informed on 30 June, while leaving Serbia, that he would no longer be allowed to enter the country, Vuk Maraš, Executive Director of BIRN Montenegro, was served with a similar decision today. Komnenić had entered Serbia without any difficulty several days earlier and learned of the ban only when crossing the border back into Montenegro, after border police unofficially told him that his name had been marked in the system.
Maraš was travelling to Rome via Belgrade and, during a lengthy layover, intended to leave the airport and go into the city. However, he was detained by Serbian border police for approximately an hour and a half during passport control before being handed a decision refusing him entry into Serbia. He was also verbally informed that he would be returned to Podgorica on the next available flight. Maraš later stated that he believed the ban was linked to his public criticism of the state of media freedom in Serbia and described the measure as part of Serbia’s announced “reciprocal measures” against members of Montenegro’s media community. Komnenić and Maraš suspect that both decisions are part of Belgrade’s previously announced response to the decision of the Montenegrin authorities to declare Dragan J. Vučićević, editor-in-chief and owner of the Serbian pro-government tabloid Informer, persona non grata.
Vučićević was banned from entering Montenegro on 26 June after, during a broadcast on Informer TV, he described Montenegrin state institutions as “anti-Serb”, compared them to Croatian fascists from the Second World War, and accused them of directly endangering the life of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Following that decision, President Vučić announced that Serbia would introduce reciprocal measures.
The President of the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), Radomir Kračković, stressed that journalists and media workers must never become instruments of political disputes or be treated as targets of so-called reciprocal measures. He also expressed particular concern that neither Komnenić nor Maraš had been provided with any explanation for the entry bans.
“Journalists and media workers must not become bargaining chips in relations between two states. If the authorities of one country believe that another state has acted improperly towards one of its citizens, the response cannot be to identify a journalist or media worker against whom retaliatory measures will be applied. Such decisions constitute serious pressure and send a deeply troubling message to the entire media community”, Kračković said.
The SafeJournalists Network emphasises that the freedom of movement may only be restricted in exceptional circumstances clearly prescribed by law, where such restrictions are necessary and based on concrete and individualised grounds.
It is particularly unacceptable that entry bans targeting journalists and media workers are being presented as “reciprocal measures.”
The SafeJournalists Network calls on the competent Serbian authorities to provide Petar Komnenić and Vuk Maraš with fully reasoned decisions setting out the legal basis for the bans, the specific grounds on which they were imposed, and their duration, as well as to ensure that they have access to an effective legal remedy. If no clear and substantiated reasons exist for these measures, the entry bans must be revoked without delay.
The SafeJournalists Network also calls on the Serbian authorities to clarify whether similar measures have been imposed on any other journalists or media workers from Montenegro.
We call on the Serbian authorities to cease the practice of targeting journalists from Montenegro and to ensure that entry bans are not used as a means of pressure, intimidation, or political retaliation against media workers.
The SafeJournalists Network will inform the relevant national and international stakeholders about this case and continue to monitor developments closely.
Every attack on journalists is an attack on democracy, the public interest, and fundamental human rights.
Pristina – Skopje – Sarajevo – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica, 6 July 2026
Association of Journalists of Kosovo
Association of Journalists of Macedonia
BH Journalists Association
Croatian Journalists’ Association
Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia
Trade Union of Media of Montenegro
