Telekom Serbia CEO says campaign of lies underway

He claims that a campaign of disinformation and lies has been underway for five years from the same source. “Telekom Serbia now has a market share of 53 percent which is what its Croatian counterpart has always had. The Serbian Telekom has grown into a serious European operator and operates in line with European values in the way a company of our profile operates in the EU. And what are the facts about our international exclusive partnerships: they are Euronews, Bloomberg, Vodafone, the European Investment Bank (EIB)… We also have an office in Brussels so that we can implement EU regulations and standards quickly,” Lucic said. That office is headed Damir Hrustanovic, husband of the head of Serbia’s mission to the EU Ana Hrustanovic.

European Parliament members have filed a number of amendments to Rapporteur Vladimir Bilcik’s report on Serbia naming Telekom Serbia as an instrument used to increase the influence of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

The European Western Balkans cited some of those amendments which the EP’s Foreign Policy Committee (AFET) is due to vote on next month.

An amendment filed by Renew Europe condemns the state financing of Telekom. MEPs also called the European Commission to review EIB loans to Telekom and recalled their concern over the operations of the company which the SNS is using to increase its influence on the media market by buying and financing media outlets. They also condemned Telekom Serbia for enabling the broadcasting of Russia Today. They called the Serbian authorities to oppose hybrid threats and align with EU Council decision to prevent the broadcasting of Sputink and Russia Today.

Thijs Reuten MEP told N1 that the power that President Aleksandar Vucic wields through Telekom Serbia is a cause for concern in the European Parliament.

„A host of SNS-linked actors are trying to cajole whatever parts of Serbia’s independent media they have not yet destroyed into parroting the government’s line, with the assistance of massive amounts of state aid and, ridiculously, a loan from the European Investment Bank. To add insult to injury, Telekom Srbija brazenly flouts EU sanctions by broadcasting Putin’s RT propaganda. The message of these amendments: that’s absolutely unacceptable. Especially in a country that’s still a candidate for EU Membership,“ Reuten said.

MEP Klemen Groselj told N1 that the lack of reaction from the judiciary reflects the situation as does the fact that the same things have been said about Telekom in European Union reports on Serbia for years. According to him, that sends a clear message about Telekom and the state of independent regulatory bodies in Serbia as well as the judiciary.

The European Western Balkans portal said that Telekom Serbia proved not to be a profitable state-owned company in 2018 when it paid almost 200 million Euro for the purchase of the Kopernikus provider from the brother of a high-ranking official of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) who went on to buy two TV stations with national coverage for almost the same amount.

“Although civil society organizations, as well as opposition parties, have pointed out the controversial business of the state-owned company over the years, Telekom only became interesting to the international public a few years later. Almost all reports that mention Telekom express concern about the company’s operations and the impact on the media,” EWB said and added that the European Parliament first mentioned Telekom in Bilcik’s 2020 resolution.

The first explicit mention of Telekom Serbia in a European Commission report was in October 2022: “Several legal disputes and proceedings are ongoing involving Telekom Srbija – whose majority stakeholder is the State – and private companies, both in Serbia and abroad, in the context of the high concentration of the media market in Serbia”.

Reporters Without Borders said in its 2021 report that concentration is a problem in the media and added that Telekom Serbia and the privately-owned SBB were battling it out for access, programs and clients. The BMFI organization said that there is an increasing amount of evidence that state bodies are being used to reinforce control of the media, adding that companies like Telekom operate by allowing people linked to the SNS to take control of media outlets and undermine critical media.

The Kopernikus deal was not the only disputable Telekom business decision affecting the media scene in Serbia, EWB said and added that Telekom’s Supernova cable operator removed N1 and Nova S, two stations which give opposition voices significant air time, from its offer. Telekom also made a deal worth 38 million Euro with the owner of the Wireless Media company whose owner Igor Zezelj used the money to buy the tabloid Kurir and change its critical attitude towards Aleksandar Vucic and his SNS.