RTS CONDEMS VUČIĆ’S STATEMENT IN THE STRONGEST TERMS: Serbian President calls state television journalist “imbecile”!

The Programming Board of RTS and the editorial board of the RTS Correspondent Office have responded to the statement made by the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who, at a gathering in Bor yesterday, insulted RTS journalist Lidija Georgijev, calling her an “imbecile.”

The RTS Programming Board considers the statement made by President Aleksandar Vučić at yesterday’s event in Bor inappropriate, in which he called the RTS journalist, who was reporting from the Niš event, an “imbecile.”

No public officeholder, regardless of their political affiliation, has the right to speak in such an insulting manner about our colleagues.

RTS, despite all its shortcomings, is the only media house that tries to maintain a spirit of tolerance in its programming and initiate some form of dialogue between opposing political sides.

Therefore, we demand that all public officeholders respect our journalists and the institution that strives to preserve the spirit of normalcy and decency in society.

In response, the RTS Correspondent Office issued a statement.

“The RTS Correspondent Office strongly condemns the statement made by the President of the Republic, in which he insulted our colleague Lidija Georgijev, editor of the RTS Correspondent Office in Niš, and, by extension, all our colleagues from the Niš office. We demand a public apology. Additionally, we condemn any form of pressure and all other attacks on media workers from both the government and the opposition. We want to do our jobs without pressure. We urge all political actors to stop attempting to control and discipline the media,” the statement from the RTS Correspondent Office, signed by Gordana Jakovljević, the editor-in-chief of the RTS Correspondent Office, reads.

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The statement made by President Vučić was also condemned in a joint statement by the Independent Trade Union of RTS and Film Workers of Serbia, the Sloga Union of RTS, the RTS Nezavisnost Union, the ASNS Union of Production and Technical Workers in the Public Media Service RTS, and the Union of Music Artists.

“We strongly condemn the hate speech and abuse of public space through which the personality and professional work of our journalists from the Niš Correspondent Office are insulted. We consider such reactions as pressure on the media and an attempt to intimidate journalists and media workers to influence their professional work and prevent them from reporting freely and truthfully on events of public interest, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the Law on Public Information and Media, particularly Article 56 of this law,” the statement reads.

It adds that “such behavior is contrary to European standards and international human rights conventions, to which the Republic of Serbia is a signatory.”

“We demand an immediate response from the competent state authorities and international organizations to ensure that such actions do not occur again, as they present a negative image of press freedom in Serbia,” the joint statement reads.

The unions also stated in the joint statement that they expect immediate action from the leadership of RTS, the Board of Directors, and the Programming Council to protect journalists Lidija Georgijev and Dejan Tasić.

“Let us together make it clear that we are not ‘imbeciles,’ but we are against any suppression of media freedom and censorship in Serbia. Freedom of expression and the media are the foundations of any democratic society. Without free media, there is no justice or truth,” the joint statement from five unions concludes.

Earlier, journalistic associations also reacted to the statement made by President Aleksandar Vučić, in which he insulted the RTS journalist.