Original article (in Serbian) was published on 1/12/2025; Author: Milica Ljubičić
The front pages of nearly all pro-government tabloids on December 1 were dominated by headlines celebrating the SNS victory in local elections held the day before in the Serbian municipalities: Mionica, Negotin, and Sečanj. “The Progressives crushed it, blockers on life support,” “The people don’t want blockers,” and “Triumph of the Progressives in all three municipalities” were among the headlines featured. While glorifying the SNS win, tabloids and government officials accused so-called “blockers” of alleged incidents, while completely ignoring attacks on citizens and election observers, as well as the presence of dozens of masked men who spent the entire election day in these three municipalities.
Local elections in the Serbian municipalities of Mionica, Sečanj and Negotin were marked by high voter turnout as well as numerous incidents and irregularities, according to election observers and opposition activists.
The monitoring organisation CRTA said its observers reported the presence of organised groups of young men moving through the towns throughout election day. CRTA and opposition representatives also cited cases of alleged vote-buying, the use of parallel voter lists and incidents in which activists from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) were seen monitoring voters and, in some cases, photographing them at polling stations.
Pro-government tabloids, however, largely ignored these irregularities, instead focusing on the SNS victory.
The daily Večernje novosti reported that the ruling party had “triumphed in all three municipalities,” quoting SNS president Miloš Vučević as saying the party had prevailed “under impossible conditions after 13 months of chaos and violence.”
The newspaper also cited Vučević’s claims that so-called “blockers” had attempted to intimidate voters over the weekend, brought in people from outside the municipalities and sought to obstruct the elections.
While the vote did take place in a tense atmosphere, Večernje novosti did not report on a series of incidents and irregularities that observers and opposition figures say were linked to supporters of the ruling party.
The paper briefly mentioned an attack on a café in the village of Rajković, noting that it housed an SNS campaign office, but did not report that the incident was preceded by an attack on Green–Left Front lawmaker Bogdan Radovanović.
Predrag Voštinić, activist of the Local Front, told Nova S that the individuals who attacked Radovanović later retreated to the café Lovac, from where they allegedly began throwing objects at people who had gathered outside in support of the lawmaker.
The Green–Left Front (ZLF) said Radovanović was repeatedly struck on the head with a metal rod and that his mobile phone was stolen during the attack.
The tabloid Srpski telegraf also reported on the incident but did not mention that it had been preceded by a physical assault on the opposition lawmaker.
Another incident was reported in Mionica, where members of CRTA’s election observation mission were targeted. In a video released by CRTA, one of the female observers can be heard demanding that an unidentified man wearing a black jacket allow the team to leave their vehicle, while another is heard calling for help. According to CRTA, the man blocked them from exiting the car, demanded that they stop filming and repeatedly struck the vehicle’s window with his elbow.
Following the incident, CRTA suspended its election observation in Mionica and withdrew all monitoring teams, citing security concerns. In a statement, the organisation said the attack took place in the presence of police officers, who did not intervene.
Apart from Večernje novosti, which reported CRTA’s statement while stressing that the organisation “claimed” the incident had occurred despite the existence of video footage, other tabloids did not mention the attack.
Informer made no reference to either the attack on CRTA observers or the assault on the lawmaker, instead reporting that “blockers stormed the yard of the mayor of Mionica.”
Translated in English using AI tools, then thoughtfully refined by a human editor.
