DIGITAL AUTOCRACY
The following transcript is from the opening speech by Pieter Omtzigt, former member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and former rapporteur on Pegasus and other spyware and secret state surveillance. The speech was delivered at the Sandbox Conference organised by the Civil Society Digital Security Network (CSDSN) in Tirana on 27 May 2026.
At the panel discussion “Freedoms Under Pressure: Civil Society and Digital Oversight in Serbia and Abroad”, organised by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) on 31 October in Belgrade, speakers warned that digital surveillance and spyware use are rapidly becoming tools of political control in Serbia and across Europe, posing severe risks to human rights and democracy.
Data Protection Impact Assessment for Video Surveillance developed by Serbia’s Ministry of Interior (MoI) does not meet the formal or material requirements laid down by the Law on Personal Data Protection, which is why the MoI should suspend the introduction of smart video surveillance systems. Civil society organizations SHARE Foundation, ...
BCSP researcher Sasa DJordjevic wrote about the details of the acquisition and setting up of a large number of security cameras throughout Belgrade which should be made clear to citizens.
