Serbia's Crackdown on Activist Groups Escalates Amid Protests

Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic escalates a crackdown on NGOs that received U.S.A.I.D. funding, raiding offices and confiscating documents as protests mount against his administration.

Unable to quell mounting student-led protests, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has resorted to a familiar tactic of blaming foreign-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the unrest. Provoked by the protests, which he attributes to external meddling, Vucic has turned his media apparatus against these groups, delivering a sharp critique of their operations and motives.

On February 25, in a move reminiscent of crackdowns endorsed by foreign political leaders, Serbian police raided the offices of four NGOs without warrants. This action follows an apparent encouragement from the Trump administration's critical stance against U.S.A.I.D., which provides funding to some of these organizations. Affected groups included the Centre for Research, Transparency and Accountability, which reported that police seized over 8,500 pages of documentation, and Civic Initiatives, which surrendered 1,300 pages and sensitive digital data pertaining to its staff and finances.

While three of the targeted NGOs had some financial ties to U.S.A.I.D., the fourth organization did not receive aid from any American agency. This recent tactic marks a dangerous shift in Vucic's approach to dissent, raising concerns over the future of activism and civil society in Serbia amid an already charged political atmosphere.