Monday’s meeting between Serbian state TV (RTS and RTV) chiefs and MPs from the ruling coalition and opposition heard dissatisfaction from both sides of the political divide.

MPs from the authorities and opposition voiced dissatisfaction claiming biased reporting and unequal representation.

Serbian state TV (RTS) board member Predrag Azdejkovic said the opposition are savages. “Bujosevic (RTS CEO) is meeting with the opposition at 2 pm and an RTS board meeting is at 4 if the opposition sneds him back in one piece. You know that they are savages,” he wrote in an X post.

The meeting behind closed doors was organized at the request of the opposition. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic saying that the fact that they meet behind closed doos was not an attempt to hide anything from the public. “We’re not hiding anything from the public. We have productive meetings, talking and reaching agreements,” she said before the meeting opened. Ecological Uprising MP group chief Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta said he would record the meeting and publish the video on social media as “a way to open the public broadcasters for everyone, not just the authorities”.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) MP Vladimir Orlic said that Radio TV Vojvodina (RTV) chiefs admitted that the opposition dominated all debates on that public broadcaster.

Orlic said that the ruling coalition expressed dissatisfaction with the reporting by both Radio TV Serbia (RTS) and Radio TV Vojvodina (RTV). He said bias was pronounced in nws shows and debates with one ruling coalition official having to face off with three from the opposition and the anchor. “There is no fair and proportional attitude. It’s a completely impassioned approach. We go no answer,” he said.

According to Orlic, a former Parliament Speaker, the opposition used the meeting as a media promotion opportunity.
RTV CEO Goran Karadzic told N1 after the meeting that the public broadcaster chiefs heard nothing new in terms of complaints about their coverage of the authorities and opposition.

He said that some ruling coalition and opposition MPs questioned the validity of the meeting, adding that the opposition felt that the meeting was not prepared well.

He said that the overall conclusion of the meeting was that broadcasters with national frequencies should be present and added that most meeting participants felt that United Group media should also be present.