The Independent Journalists' Association Of Serbia (NUNS) sharply condemned Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s statement labeling independent journalists from the north of Kosovo as “a media network of agents paid from outside which is destroying the unity of the Serb people in Kosovo”.

“The Serbian president has brutally swooped down on our colleagues from small news desks in the north of Kosovo with his defamatory and unsubstantiated statement and has practically marked them as legitimate targets,” a statement said.  

“This is not the first time that our colleagues in the north of Kosovo are suffering pressure. They were subject to direct physical, verbal and hacking attacks on several occasions,” it added.  

The NUNS recalled that this kind of talk is very dangerous, especially in Kosovo where the situation has been on the verge of conflict for years. “We recall that the authorities used similar language to attack and slander Oliver Ivanovic prior to his brutal killing,” the statement said.  

The NUNS said it is “demanding that the Serbian president retract his statement in the shortest possible time and apologize to journalists in the north of Kosovo who are doing their jobs honorably and professionally”.