The Brussels portal “EU Political Report” retracted the texts and apologized to Dragan Šolak for false accusations that he had ties to Russia
Earlier this year, the portal “EU Political Report” published two articles under the responsibility of its former editor-in-chief, James Wilson, in which it was claimed that the Russian government exerted undue influence on Dragan Šolak and on news channels controlled by the United Group, including N1 and Nova S, of which Šolak is the founder.
Dragan Šolak entered into a dispute with United Group, after removed from the position of chairman of the Advisory Board. He is sued the company for unpaid money, and the whole dispute is very important for the media scene in Serbia because it preceded the change of leadership in United Media and represented a step further towards state influence on this company.
“At the time these texts were written, we did not consult Mr. Sholak regarding these allegations,” the portal wrote. “Sholak subsequently pointed out to us important facts that contradict the allegations made in those texts. We further reviewed this case and concluded that the texts were wrong and unfounded. We retracted the relevant texts and sincerely apologize to Sholak for the harm they caused.”
Fake photo with Putin
In the mentioned texts, this portal claimed that news channels controlled by the United Group, including N1 and Nova S, were under the influence of the Russian government.
“These allegations are incorrect. N1 and Nova S are widely recognized in Serbia and around the world for their editorial independence. These channels objectively report on the situation in Serbia and abroad. They are not biased in favor of the Russian government,” they added and stated that “N1 journalists were among the first Serbian journalists who reported directly from Ukraine in February 2022.”
Sholak, they also announced, “has nothing to do with the Russian government.”
“The photo that accompanied one of the articles, showing Sholak next to President Putin, is fake and generated by artificial intelligence. Sholak has never met with President Putin or any other Russian official from the Russian government, Gazprom or any other Russian state-controlled entity,” the statement said. “Our texts also contained inaccurate and misleading statements regarding the consulting agency Highgate and the media association Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI).”
Highgate is a London-based CEO advisory agency engaged by United Group until early 2024 for government relations and public relations consulting. After that, it was replaced by another international consulting firm. During engagement by the United Group, Highgate was duly registered in the EU Transparency Register as one of the external advisors representing UG in EU-related matters.
BFMI is one of several international organizations fighting for media freedom in the Balkans. UG is one of its supporters, and that support has been publicly announced.
Source: Vreme
