Russia’s Influence Overshadows Serbia’s Election

On 16 Decem­ber 2023, DW report­ed that Ser­bia’s media land­scape is heav­i­ly influ­enced by pro-Russ­ian sen­ti­ment, sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact­ing the coun­try’s polit­i­cal envi­ron­ment and elec­tions. Vladimir Krsl­janin, a promi­nent Ser­bian politi­cian, has been advo­cat­ing for Ser­bia-Rus­sia coop­er­a­tion, echo­ing sen­ti­ments pop­u­lar among many Ser­bians. His book, pro­mot­ing Rus­si­a’s role as a glob­al sav­ior, res­onates with these views. Pro-Russ­ian media out­lets in Ser­bia, includ­ing Krem­lin-con­trolled Sput­nik Ser­bia and RT Balkan, ampli­fy this nar­ra­tive, often over­shad­ow­ing EU con­tri­bu­tions like the recent €75 mil­lion grant for a new gas pipeline from Bul­gar­ia, mis­rep­re­sent­ed by Ser­bian media as Russ­ian aid. Pres­i­dent Alek­san­dar Vuci­c’s regime, known for its close ties with Moscow, fre­quent­ly uses state-con­trolled media to attack polit­i­cal rivals, alleg­ing West­ern inter­fer­ence in Ser­bian pol­i­tics. Despite Ser­bia’s sig­nif­i­cant eco­nom­ic and edu­ca­tion­al ties with the EU, the pro-Russ­ian media bias and polit­i­cal rhetoric con­tin­ue to shape pub­lic per­cep­tion, main­tain­ing a strong Russ­ian influ­ence over Ser­bian affairs.