US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill said Monday that Russia is taking “increasingly desperate” measures to spread propaganda and misinformation in the Balkans, confident that Moscow will not succeed in disrupting Serbia’s integration into the European Union (EU).
“As Russia’s influence in the region weakens, I am not surprised that they are taking increasingly desperate measures to spread their propaganda and misinformation in the Balkans. I believe their attempts to disrupt Serbia’s full European integration will fail,” Hill told the Beta news agency commenting on the RT Balkan television in Serbia.
RT Balkan, a branch of the Russian state media outlet RT, began broadcasting on December 27 using the channels and services of the state-owned company Telekom Serbia. The media outlet has been present in Serbia since November 2022, when it launched its online portal.
The international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders appealed in early October to the EU and its member states to hold Serbia accountable for enabling the operations of the Russian state media outlet RT, which the organization warned was spreading Kremlin propaganda in the Balkans.
The authorities in Serbia have pointed out that allowing RT Balkan to operate demonstrates that Serbia is an “oasis of media freedom.”
Member of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) presidency and MP Vladimir Djukanovic recently shared a similar view regarding the launch of RT Balkan TV in Serbia. He stated that there is “absolute freedom of information” in Serbia, insisting that “there is no censorship,” and that “all media – American, British, German, Russian, French, Chinese, and others – can find their place under the sun.”
Source: N1
