The National Convention on the European Union condemns the campaign against the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

The National Convention on the European Union condemns the malicious and organised tabloid campaign to which the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), Igor Bandović, and Bojan Elek, director and deputy director of this organisation, are exposed.

The BCSP is one of the founders of the National Convention, and Bojan Elek is the coordinator of the Working Group for Chapter 24. Through long-term coordination activities of this working group, the BCSP has made an immeasurable contribution to Serbia’s progress in this segment of European integration, as well as security sector reform in general.

Systematic abuse of tabloids and other media for the purpose of destroying the reputation of civil society organisations has become a daily occurrence in Serbia. Organisations that deal with the most sensitive social issues are especially exposed to such attacks, within which, due to their consistent and well-founded opinions, they often express a critical attitude towards government policies and moves. A common characteristic of such campaigns is placing unverified and unsigned content to lead readers to certain conclusions via tabloid portals so that other media outlets would take them over and continue their dissemination. In this way, the credibility of civil society organisations is undermined, so that their future activities have as little impact on citizens as possible, as well as on other interested actors.

The National Convention provides full support to colleagues from the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy to prove the protection of their reputation and the organisation’s credibility in the appropriate court proceedings.

National Convention on the European Union (NCEU)