CRTA in 2022.

“The irresponsible granting of licences for national broadcasting to televisions enabled the further narrowing of the space for pluralism and the strengthening of the negative perception of the West and the EU, the defamation of critics and opponents of the government and the glorification of the president. The government dominated around 95 percent of the time in central news programmes. At the same time, there is more and more information manipulation, above all coming from those that encourage intolerance towards the West.”

“The CRTA research showed that one in five citizens was a witness, accomplice or immediate target of some kind of political pressure. With blackmail, threats and a ‘bear’s paving stone’, the political engagement of citizens was discouraged, and even their fundamental right to decide freely and according to their own conscience has been trampled upon.”

The largest number of citizens assess that the state of democracy in Serbia has improved in the last five years. Nonetheless, almost one third of them believe that the state of democracy has worsened. Likewise, almost a third of citizens did not know that presidential elections were to be held in April, almost a half did not know that parliamentary elections were being held, while more than a half did not know that there would be local elections.

Slightly more than a third of citizens are either completely uninterested or just somewhat interested in politics. During this period, the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina have become the sole topic that has piqued heightened interest of citizens. Internal processes, such as the work of local self-governments and the National Assembly attract citizens’ attention less than a year ago. That citizens should be active participants in political life is felt mostly by those who believe in critical media, who lean towards opposition parties, the youngest, more educated citizens who live in Belgrade and other urban centres.

The campaign was launched with the aim of focusing the public’s attention on society’s attitude towards the elderly. Although people over 65 make up 21 percent of the total population, this group is often neglected in public policies and perceived as a “voting machine”. An additional goal of the campaign was to motivate older generations to participate in political processes. The documentary series “Mature Serbia”, as the main content of the campaign, was viewed by about 1,500,000 people.

The goal of the campaign was to celebrate activists and activist groups who bravely defend the public interest and thus encourage a greater number of citizens to engage in the fight for the protection of their own rights. In 2022, the campaign reached more than 2,000,000 people, and had more than 800,000 views on CRTA’s YouTube channel alone.

The recognition by which CRTA traditionally rewards individuals and groups who fight with particular courage for the common good was awarded to the citizens’ association Krokodil, for the solidarity and concrete help that the association provided to the citizens of Ukraine, i.e. to the Perinatal Centre in Kharkiv.

104 citizens attended nine modules of the Academy for Democracy. 30 of them acquired knowledge and skills for independent election observation in observation missions, polling station committees, political organisations’ election teams and for media coverage of elections within the School of Independent Election Observation, while 24 of them acquired knowledge important for advocating policy changes and management practices, through communication with the authorities within the Summer School of Activism. Thanks to the School of Parliamentarism, 27 participants were trained to participate in the work of the National Assembly, while 23 participated in the Simulation of the work of the National Assembly.

With the help of CRTA, 37 organisations from 22 cities and municipalities successfully implemented their projects, and 208 activists from more than 50 cities and municipalities were trained to be involved in decision-making processes and the implementation of civic initiatives, gaining knowledge and skills in the field of public advocacy, access to information of public importance, negotiation and crisis communication.

During dozens of group and bilateral meetings, decision-makers in Serbia, representatives of the European countries, the USA, Canada and representatives of the international community – the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and others were regularly informed about the findings of research on the citizens’ attitudes, the media, the work of institutions and other topics important for the state of democracy in Serbia. Those actors were also informed about the recommendations based on the CRTA’s research and their support for the democratic changes included in those recommendations was sought.

The conference brought together more than 200 representatives of state institutions of the Republic of Serbia, the EU, EU countries, the USA, national and international organisations, the media and experts. The work was organised through three working tables: Media, Parliament and Elections, and the goal was to reach a minimum consensus about standards, the implementation of which would prevent further erosion of democracy in Serbia in these areas, and enable progress towards the EU. The conclusions of the conference – from the working table related to the work of the National Assembly, from the working table on elections and from the working table on the role of REM and RTS in encouraging pluralism  –  will serve for the preparation of practical policy recommendations and for the further activists’ work.

The war in Ukraine significantly altered the media reporting in Serbia. In contrast to previous years, when out of all foreign actors the USA had had the most visibility, in the previous 12 months Russia came to the first place. The glorification of Russia was not as open as in the previous four years, but Russia remains presented far more positively than the EU, USA and NATO.

In central news on television stations with national coverage in the period from May to November 2022, all reports related almost exclusively to the representatives of the authorities, while other political actors were nearly invisible in the political life of Serbia.  The strong bias is also reflected in the tone of the reporting, i.e. the polarisation between the positively presented authorities and the negative image of the opposition. The President of Serbia is a political actor who is given by far the most time in central news broadcasts.

After a months-long period in which there was almost no political pluralism due to the clear dominance of the authorities’ representatives on television with national coverage, during the first three weeks of the campaign there was a change in the representation and in the way of reporting on the opposition electoral actors. Greater representation of the opposition was a consequence of the introduction of mandatory electoral blocs in television programmes with national coverage. Despite this, the bias in reporting on the authorities’ candidates and on some opposition candidates remained.

In response to the growing interest of representatives of the international public in the reporting of the most influential media in Serbia, an overview of front pages of the daily newspapers and central news headlines is prepared daily and shared via the mailing list.

“We want the state institutions in Serbia to work accountably, transparently, and in accordance with the principles of the rule of law, primarily keeping in mind the interests of the citizens. Observing the work of institutions, we investigate and propose ways to improve it. We also inform citizens about the work of the National Assembly and independent bodies, especially the Regulatory Authority of Electronic Media, and encourage them to get directly involved in the work of institutions wherever this possibility exists.”

“We are fighting to make the election process in Serbia democratic – to meet international standards for free and fair elections. This implies the existence of appropriate regulations and their full implementation in order to ensure the equality of all participants in the election race and protect the voters’ rights. We monitor the implementation of regulations during the pre-election period, during and after the Election Day, we inform the public about issues important for the democratic character of the election and we invite citizens to participate in political life with their vote and oppose attempts that deny them that right.”

In the period preceding the referendum, the public was presented with a detailed explanation of the legal nature of the referendum, proposed changes, possible consequences of the referendum outcome, the implementation procedure and rules related to the referendum campaign and the protection of voting rights.

Through the Referendum Guide and a series of articles dedicated to the referendum, Istinomer brought the topic closer to the public and enabled monitoring of the voting process and results.

A team of long-term observers of the CRTA observation mission followed the referendum campaign and collected information about its intensity and content on the ground throughout Serbia. Our team observed the activities of political parties, authorities and other relevant actors. Simultaneously, the media monitoring team monitored the presence and content of the referendum campaign on all televisions with national coverage, as well as on selected local televisions. The CRTA accredited observers monitored the work of the Republic Electoral Commission before the day of the referendum and on the day of the vote. After the referendum day, the observers continued monitoring the work of the Republic Electoral Commission and the announcement of the final results of the referendum.

The observation mission consisted of about 800 trained and accredited short-term observers who were deployed to 300 polling stations determined on the basis of a random sample, representative of Serbia, without voters from Kosovo. Observing the voting process on such a sample made it possible to report on the course of voting, compliance with laws and procedures, turnout and results of the referendum. Observers were present at 300 polling stations from the moment the stations were being prepared for the opening, from 6 o’clock in the morning, until the members of the polling station committees announced the results of the referendum for the monitored station, which provided a comprehensive insight into the events at each of the monitored polling stations.

Observation of the campaign on the ground showed that neither the referendum process nor the referendum question was a priority for the incumbent parties, while the opposition parties dealt with this topic more often, although their campaigns were limited in scope. The CRTA observation mission processed turnout data collected from 300 polling stations from a random and representative sample. Based on the findings from this data, the conclusion is that the voting day passed mostly in accordance with the law, but that the lack of preparation of the administration, primarily of the polling station committees and local subcommittees, was obvious. When it comes to their scope and intensity, the observed irregularities did not affect the final outcome, however, their seriousness and the absence of reactions from the institutions illustrate the worrying state of election conditions in Serbia, especially bearing in mind the elections in April 2022.

In contrast to earlier pre-election periods, and in the parliamentary environment without opposition, the state institutions were strongly involved in campaigning before the campaign, that is, before the election was announced. A key feature of that period was the production of narratives in favour of the government and against critical voices. The institutions of the legislative and executive authorities and the President of the Republic, as well as the most influential media, were a channel for strengthening the advantages of the incumbent majority and for building the personality cult of Aleksandar Vučić – through the promotion of work and confrontations with political opponents, civil society and the independent media. The abuse of institutional advantages also included intensive one-time cash support programmes for the population.

The results of the “Campaign before the campaign” research were presented to representatives of the media, state institutions and the international community. The goal of the conference was to point out the fact that the competent institutions did not sufficiently contribute to the fuller realisation of standards for free and democratic elections, and even when there were reactions to violations of the law, they did not influence the change in the behaviour of electoral actors who were abusing institutional advantages.

The notebook of pre-election promises provided a tabular overview of the pre-election promises of the candidates in the previous elections, and at the same time helps the voters to make up their minds about voting in the upcoming elections. Through the series of texts “Everything you wanted to know about the elections, but you had no one to ask“, as well as through a series of texts dedicated to the April elections, Istinomer explains various aspects: polling station and election materials, administration and acts related to the elections, information about the candidates, parties, coalitions, etc.

• Bearing in mind that higher voter turnout always contributes to stronger legitimacy of elections, CRTA implemented the media campaign “Hence, vote”, primarily aimed at citizens who hesitate between voting and abstaining.

• An online campaign “Vote, my young friend” was created specifically for young voters, which was accompanied by street actions in university centres – Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac.

• Citizens were invited mostly through social media, to check whether they are registered in the Voters’ Register.

• Campaigns aiming at higher turnout reached more than 2,000,000 people, and the number of voters was significantly higher than in previous elections.

The CRTA observation mission monitored the period before and during the election campaign applying international standards for independent citizens’ election observation. The team for long-term field observers reported on the atmosphere leading up to the elections and prepared a Preliminary Report one of the key findings of which is that citizens from socially vulnerable groups and public sector employees are exposed to daily pressures to ensure or provide support to the incumbent party. It also highlights that the practice of illegal influence on voter preferences is present not only during the pre-election period but is more pronounced during the campaign. The Second Preliminary Report  indicated that the institutions responsible for the protection of voting rights did not sufficiently contribute to the fuller realisation of the standards of democratic elections.

2.673 observers trained according to international standards were deployed to 950 polling stations, from the beginning of preparations for their opening to the publication of the minutes of voting at the polling station, and they were supported by 65 operators in the call centre. The observation was carried out using the Parallel Vote Tabulation Methodology, which enables an impartial assessment of the official results and voter response with a small but measurable possibility of error. Citizens were informed about the course of voting and turnout on the Election Day. The mission prepared a Preliminary Report on the Election Day Monitoring, the main conclusion of which is that the elections at most polling stations took place in accordance with laws and procedures, but also in an atmosphere full of tensions that occasionally escalated into physical violence, with the manifest unwillingness of polling station committees to effectively organise and conduct voting.

Based on the findings of long-term and short-term observation, the CRTA Election Observation Mission prepared a Final Report with recommendations, in which it assesses that the integrity of the election was significantly threatened as the equality of participants was undermined in favour of the incumbent parties; voters were deprived of equal and objective information about electoral offer, and the freedom of choice was threatened for certain groups of the population. Comprehensive changes to election laws that were implemented before the elections were called, alongside the discontinuation of a practice spanning multiple decades, burdened the election administration and contributed to legal uncertainty. The elections were marked by widespread clientelistic practices, pressures and intimidation, pronounced media inequality and abuse of institutional advantages that blurred the line between the state and the incumbent party. Attempts to protect the integrity of the election remained without a timely institutional response and without an epilogue.

On the basis of the findings of the CRTA Observation Mission and on the basis of notifications received from citizens and their organisations, CRTA submitted 34 complaints to the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Regulatory Body of Electronic Media and the Education Inspection in connection with the observed irregularities.

An online tool was developed in order to allows citizens to report violations of election-related rules and suspicions of election-related corruption, divided into 4 parts: vote buying, pressure on voters, abuse of public functions and public resources. Each part contains a form that citizens fill in to report irregularities. Almost 200 cases of potential irregularities have been reported.

The most common examples of violations of election rules, i.e. electoral corruption, are shown in video form, with the aim of educating and motivating citizens to report suspicious actions using the online tool Report irregularities. Through various communication channels, this campaign was seen by more than 1.000.000 people.

Forming on the observation mission’s report, a set of comprehensive recommendations was prepared with the aim of bringing the electoral process in Serbia in line with international standards for free and fair elections. The recommendations are grouped into five units: equality of campaign participants, equal media representation, freedom of choice and voting rights, protection of electoral rights and the work of the election administration.

• Starting from the Recommendations for free and fair elections, and from the Conclusions of the working table on elections of the Conference “Democracy: a minimal consensus”, consultations were held with experts and practitioners from the fields essential to the improvement of the electoral process on three topics: protection of voters’ rights in the electoral process through the improvement of election administration, ways to ensure equal media representation of candidates and protect the freedom of voters to form an opinion through public information and protection of freedom of choice through prevention of pressure on voters. Based on these consultations, key recommendations were extracted from the comprehensive set of suggestions, prioritised, and potential implementation methods explored.

• As part of the advocacy of the recommendations, a series of meetings were held with representatives of the institutions that organise and conduct elections in Serbia (Republic Electoral Commission, local electoral commissions), as well as with representatives of other state bodies that have different roles in the election process (Anti-Corruption Agency, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Commissioner for Equality). The CRTA’s recommendations were presented to the largest number of parliamentary groups in the National Assembly.

In addition to the repeated criticism of the fact that the Regulatory Body of Electronic Media proposes that reporting rules during the pre-election period should be mandatory only for public media services and not for commercial broadcasters, during the public discussion held on February 3^rd, CRTA raised a series of other concerns regarding the Draft Rulebook on the behaviour of RTS and RTV, despite the discouraging fact that the representatives of the media companies that should adhere to the Rulebook did not participate in the conversation.

Exhaustive contributions were prepared for the reports of the European Commission and the European Parliament on Serbia’s progress in the field of free and fair elections.

The research was prompted by the findings of the CRTA Observation Mission and contains the testimonies of citizens who were victims or witnesses of political pressures, which are especially exacerbated in the period before the elections. Citizens often experience pressures as a form of regular party activities and legitimate struggles of political actors. Clientelism and corruption are perceived as indispensable features of political life in Serbia.

The online campaign focused public attention on the research findings on pressures. The clips on CRTA’s YouTube channel and the campaign on social networks had almost 850,000 reactions and motivated citizens to contact CRTA and share their own experiences with political pressure.

In accordance with the goals of the organisation, three programme units were consolidated – Democratic culture, Democratic institutions and Elections.

When it comes to human resources, flexible program teams that implement programmes within those three units have been consolidated – a team for media, law, quantitative research, qualitative research, empowerment of citizens and their initiatives, communications, elections, field campaigns, as well as teams of the Open of Parliament and Istinomer, and the programme support teams – finance, administration and IT.

Internal communication procedures have been updated, facilitating synergy between different programme teams and increasing work efficiency.

Employees and associates are trained to better understand the audience, to use modern platforms and tools for work and for crisis communications.

A comprehensive internship programme was launched for young people who want to improve their knowledge in the areas covered by CRTA, which was also a way of attracting and retaining young talents.

Around 3,800 citizens engaged through the CRTA Observation Mission are included in the “Citizens on Watch” network, through which they will participate in the CRTA’s activities in the period between elections, whenever needed. During 2022, a part of the network underwent interviewer training and was involved in field and telephone surveys within the scope of public opinion research.