Maja Smrkolj of the Serbia and Kosovo Unit within the European Commission’s (EC) Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) told nova.rs that the Commission is closely monitoring the announced sale of Adria News Network (ANN) to Alpac Capital, changes in the staffing structure of ANN media outlets, and the potential impact these developments could have on media freedom and pluralism in Serbia and other countries. She said the Commission would continue to closely monitor these developments in the context of Serbia’s European Union (EU) accession negotiations and report on them as part of the 2026 Enlargement Package.
Eleven days ago, Alpac Capital owner Pedro Vargas Santos David was registered as director of all independent United Group media outlets in Serbia, replacing all of ANN’s previous directors.
The changes are being followed with concern by employees and media experts alike. In response to questions from the Nova news portal, the European Commission said it was closely monitoring the case.
“Media freedom and pluralism are essential to a democratic society and are an important part of fundamental rights in the European Union. Both the European Media Freedom Act and the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive provide mechanisms to safeguard media pluralism and guarantees to ensure transparency of media ownership. Among other things, the European Media Freedom Act requires member states to assess, through media pluralism tests, the impact of major concentrations in the media market on media pluralism and editorial independence,” Smrkolj said.
She stressed that it is up to the relevant authorities in the member states to ensure the proper application and implementation of EU law in this area.
“The European Board for Media Services is setting up an ad hoc expert group to examine whether the announced sale of Adria News Network can go ahead. At this stage, we therefore have no comment on whether the transaction in question would fall within the scope of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA),” Smrkolj added.
She also stressed that respecting and safeguarding media freedom and pluralism in EU candidate countries is crucial to their European path.
“As part of the accession process, under Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 10 (Digital Transformation and Media), Serbia is expected to align its legislation with the EU acquis and standards in this area and to properly implement them in practice. The Commission will continue to closely monitor these developments, including in the context of Serbia’s EU accession negotiations, and will report on them as part of the 2026 Enlargement Package,” Smrkolj said.
According to the union representing employees of the Nova news portal, the Nova daily newspaper and the weekly Radar, a member of the UGS Nezavisnost (Independence) trade union confederation, Serbia’s Commission for Protection of Competition has approved the sale of United Group’s media outlets. In Montenegro, the Commercial Court has temporarily blocked the granting of approval, while approval from the relevant government authority in Luxembourg is also pending.
Source: N1
