The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called on Serbian authorities to ensure journalists can report safely throughout Sunday's parliamentary election and the period that follows, after a campaign marked by physical attacks, police obstruction and threats against reporters.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

Since CPJ warned a month ago of growing risks ahead of the vote, reporters have been pushed and hit by police officers, had phones seized or cameras struck, and been prevented from covering campaign events, CPJ said. At some pro-government rallies, it said, police obstructed journalists, used force to remove them or failed to intervene when reporters were attacked, and security personnel blocked journalists from some events.

"The attacks we have seen during this election campaign are a warning of what could happen on October 25 and afterwards. Serbian authorities must ensure that police protect journalists rather than obstruct them," said Attila Mong, CPJ's Europe program coordinator. He called on Serbia's international partners, election observers and foreign embassies to closely monitor journalist safety on election day.

CPJ listed cases confirmed by local press-freedom groups including the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), the SafeJournalists Network and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) — among them an October 11 incident in Zrenjanin where, KTV presenter Nemanja Šarović said, police prevented a three-person crew from covering a ruling-party rally for about two hours and struck him with shields, hands and feet.

Monitors also flagged a polarised campaign

International monitors have separately raised concerns about the fairness of the October 25 early parliamentary election. The EU mission in Serbia expressed concern about reported incidents of violence, while a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe delegation described a highly polarised campaign with hostile rhetoric directed at opposition activists, civil society and journalists, and an OSCE interim report noted journalist safety among unaddressed recommendations from 2023.

Source: Bytes Europe / AP reporting on EU, PACE and OSCE monitors

The election will determine whether Aleksandar Vučić, who stepped down as president in September to run for prime minister after more than a decade in power, returns as premier. CPJ said recent attacks unfolded amid a broader climate of intimidation and hostility towards independent media in Serbia, and it has published Serbian- and English-language safety resources for reporters covering the vote.