European Commission rejects Russian accusations about encouraging unrests

BRUSSELS / BELGRADE – The European Commission has rejected the accusations of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service that the EU is behind “the unrest in Serbia”.

“Allegations that the EU or member states are encouraging the protests are simply not true,” said the European Commission to N1.

“This is yet another attempt by Russia to spread disinformation and hostile political rhetoric against the EU, its member states, and candidate countries,” the written response says.

It adds that the EC regrets that this narrative is being intensively amplified in numerous Serbian media outlets.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) announced o 15 September that it had information suggesting that the unrest in Serbia, with the active participation of young people, is “largely the product of subversive activities by the European Union (EU) and its member states,” and that the “Euro-elite is ready to use” the anniversary of the tragedy in Novi Sad on 1 November “to turn the situation in its favor.”

President Aleksandar Vučić yesterday thanked the SVR and said Serbian institutions would contact them for further details.

“I have no doubt that those who organised the colour revolution cannot just give up. Too much money has been invested, so they will have to have a final attempt to take power by force”, Vučić said.

Pro-government media extensively reported on the SVR statement, using it to attack the student protesters.

The European Commission is calling on the Serbian authorities to urgently address the issue of “information manipulation from abroad, including anti-EU narratives spread by numerous media outlets, as well as disinformation.”

“The Serbian authorities must take greater responsibility in combating disinformation and have still not ensured more proactive and objective communication about the EU and Serbia’s accession process,” the European Commission stated for N1.

In a statement to Nova.rs, an unnamed representative of the students from Novi Sad said that the gathering on 1 November is still being planned and that it would be a “commemorative gathering”.

“I don’t know where they got the idea that anyone would cause riots on that day, but it’s clear that they announced this in conjunction with our own authorities, who are no strangers to violence, which has been shown several times so far”, the student said.

He added that, as soon as the student protests were discussed in the European Parliament, “the Russians were afraid of losing control over Serbia, and now they will do everything to prevent us from siding with Europe”.