May 19, 2025
Serbia has never had a worse rating worse since Reporters Without Borders (RSF) began gauging levels of media freedom around the world. It now ranks 96th among 180 countries and territories. It has the lowest ranking in the region with the exception of Kosovo, which has fallen to 99th place.
Serbia received fewer points but nonetheless advanced two places compared to last year, when it ranked 98th.
Pavol Szalai, head of the Reporters Without Borders’ EU-Balkans desk, says that this advance is an “illusion”. He notes that the ranking change occurred due to other countries having fallen even lower, but that “Serbia reached its lowest level in the 23-year history of the Index”.
“The deterioration of media freedom in Serbia is a result of political and legal factors. This can be attributed to the efforts of the ruling party to stifle independent journalism, through malicious prosecutions (SLAPP) and the fact that the state monitors journalists,” said Szalai.
The best ranked countries of the region are Slovenia (33rd) and Montenegro (37th), while Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina have respectively fallen to 60th and 86th place.
The worst rating in the region is that of Kosovo, which deteriorated dramatically last year and this, and which now occupies 99th place.
