The Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) and Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) warned that global brands are funding media outlets disseminating disinformation in the Balkans.

The report by the two organizations said “advertising revenues from major North American and European brands are funding and legitimising media outlets that disseminate disinformation on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Kosovo and other divisive issues in the Balkans”.

A press release said that the report called on policymakers, civil society and the private sector to take concrete steps to ensure corporate advertising strategies strengthen independent media and democracy in the region.

The report titled Defunding Disinformation in the Balkans: How International Brands Support Russia’s Agenda said that major brands from Germany, the US, UK, France and other countries are channelling millions of Euro in advertising to media outlets in Serbia and Bulgaria that spread pro-Kremlin disinformation, denying the Bucha massacre, likening NATO to an ‘apocalyptic group of anti-Russian crusaders’ and attacking the European Union.

“Amid growing concerns over the impact of disinformation on security and democracy in the region, the report issues a stark warning: global brands and advertising companies are inadvertently bolstering Russian influence and exacerbating the fragile political situation in the region through their current advertising practices. This represents a growing risk for brand reputation,” a press release said.

The report named Lidl, Delhaize Group, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Bosch and Amazon. “Advertising technology providers Google and Criteo are found to connect brands with online news portals spreading disinformation in the Balkans,” it said.

The press release quoted BFMI Board member Peter Horrocks as saying that „advertising from major international brands plays a significant role in sustaining media in Southeast Europe and the Balkans. Unfortunately, some of these outlets regularly promote disinformation. Our focus today is to highlight how current funding policies inadvertently support the spread of Russian propaganda in the Balkans; a fact largely unknown to these brands.”

CRTA Program Director Rasa Nedeljkov said that “the anti-West, pro-Russia and pro-government propaganda machine in Serbia is largely funded and, therefore, legitimised by Western companies. North American and European nations, as well as the EU, must take action now to stop this – otherwise, they will continue to foster the Russian playbook in Serbia that pushes our society away from democracy and European values straight into authoritarian rule.”

“The surge of disinformation in the Balkans is stoking ethnic conflict, eroding democracy, and driving the region away from the EU and into Putin’s hands. Global brands, and the middlemen involved in the advertising process, have an important responsibility to ensure their investments do not contribute to the further erosion of media freedom and stability in the Balkans,” the press release quoted BFMI Director Antoinette Nikolova as saying.