Balkan Service
Radio Slobodna Evropa provides independent news in challenging media landscapes across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia.
Website visits (2025)
Facebook video views (2025)
Instagram video views (2025)
YouTube video views (2025)
About the Service
Since 2000, RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, known locally as Radio Slobodna Evropa, has provided crucial coverage of economic issues, corruption, Russian influence, and minority rights in post-war Balkan society.
The Service offered critical on-the-ground reporting during Serbian student-led protests, keeping audiences informed as demonstrators called for snap elections and the release of detainees.
Journalists uncovered a Russian influence operation aimed at manipulation Serbian elections by embedding an alleged spy in the OSCE observation mission, who was later expelled by the European Union.
The Service reports on Chinese influence in the Balkans, including how counterfeit Chinese goods have flooded local markets, impacting the economy.
In August 2025, leaked documents obtained by Balkan Service journalists exposed that Serbia is substantially expanding its advanced Chinese-made surveillance system, including through contracts with Chinese tech giant Huawei.
In an award-winning cross-border investigation with RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, journalists exposed the extensive environmental damage caused by Chinese-owned mines in Serbia and Tajikistan.
Reaching Audiences
Media Climate
Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks the region: Bosnia-Herzegovina (86/180), Montenegro (37/180), and Serbia (96/180).
Awards
Refleksija Prize
In July 2025, journalists Sonja Gocanin and Iva Gajic were awarded the Refleksija Prize for their reporting on poverty in Serbia.
Civic Alliance (Građanska alijansa)
In April 2024, RFE/RL’s Jiri Dienstbier Fellow, Tijana Radulovic, won first prize at the Civic Alliance (Građanska alijansa) awards for her work with the Balkan Service on women’s organizations in Montenegro.
In May 2024, journalists Lela Scepanovic, Milos Rudovic, and Natalija Jovanovic took home two of three awards from Civic Alliance for the best stories on war crime victims and the culture of remembrance in Montenegro.
Latest Updates
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly Visits Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly met with North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučic.
RFE/RL’s Balkan Service Marks 25 Years Of Speaking With One Voice
RFE/RL’s Balkan Service this week is marking 25 years of reporting in one of the world’s most contested regions.
Bosnian FM Talks Bosnian (and Serbian) Politics With RFE/RL
Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija visited RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague on May 15 during an official visit to the Czech Republic.
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