UK MP Kearns warns Serbia: EU aspirations incompatible with pressure on N1

Kearns said she is alarmed by reports that top Serbian officials may be involved in attempts to influence the future of N1. She stressed that it is unacceptable for the leadership of a country seeking EU membership to be engaged in talks with majority owners aimed at weakening what she described as Serbia’s last genuinely independent broadcaster.

Speaking to N1, Kearns also commented on media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region, noting that open and independent journalism is indispensable for a healthy democracy and for preventing any drift toward authoritarianism.

Referring to this year’s ranking by Reporters Without Borders, she pointed out that the organisation assessed Serbia’s media climate as the worst since the 1990s. She said it is deeply troubling to see what she characterised as echoes of past repression, especially given President Aleksandar Vucic’s political background from that era. According to her, the government appears not only intent on marginalising N1 for giving space to opposition voices but even signalling that the channel may no longer be welcome in the country. She urged European policymakers to pay closer attention to these developments and to speak out publicly.

Kearns also described as shocking the recently released recording of a conversation between United Group CEO Stane Miller and Telekom Srbija director Vladimir Lucic, a close ally of President Vucic. She argued that such discussions should not be taking place in a state that claims to be committed to joining the EU. She reiterated that Serbia cannot aspire to European integration while its leadership attempts to curb the autonomy of a key independent media outlet, adding that citizens deserve to live in an open and democratic society.

The controversy follows leadership changes within United Group, the parent company of United Media. Public attention intensified after the publication of the Miller–Lucic recording, in which Lucic said that President Vucic requested the dismissal of Aleksandra Subotic, one of United Media’s top executives overseeing N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar.

In response to growing concerns, the management teams of N1, Nova, Danas and Radar have recently launched a management buyout initiative, submitting a market-based offer to acquire ownership from United Group with backing from credible external investors.