Rights group’s report says the authorities and pro-government media have systemically targeted Croats since political tensions worsened in Serbia during anti-government protests.
Ivana Jeremic
The Serbian border. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI.
A new report published on Wednesday by the rights organisation Youth Initiative for Human Rights, YIHR, accuses Serbia’s authorities of targeting several Croatian citizens visiting Serbia, as well as some with dual citizenship, as part of a coordinated campaign of discrediting political activists and opponents.
The report, Expulsion, Targeting and Other Human Rights Violations of Croatian Citizens During the Political Crisis in Serbia (March 2025–March 2026), says that during the sustained political crisis in Serbia and amid ongoing mass protests, Croatians have often been portrayed by the authorities and pro-government media as enemies and labelled “Ustasa”, referencing Croatian World War II fascists.
This campaign, it says, peaked in April 2025 when five Croatian citizens were expelled from Serbia within only three days. As many as 15 have been expelled since January 2026. All of them had lived and worked in Serbia legally.
The report cites the case from April 2025 of Arien Stojanovic-Ivkovic, a Croatian citizen with a Serbian husband, a child and a valid residence permit until 2027, who was informed that her residence permit had been revoked and she had been declared an “unacceptable security risk”.
Stojanovic-Ivkovic, who was ordered to leave Serbia within seven days, believes the decision was linked to her attendance at anti-government protests and her Instagram posts critical of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
After challenging the decision, the Administrative Court eventually suspended its enforcement and in June 2025 the Ministry of Interior revoked the expulsion order following a reassessment, which concluded that the grounds for declaring her a security risk no longer existed.
She has since filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for her allegedly unlawful expulsion, but says no action has yet been taken on her claim.
According to information obtained by YIHR, the Ministry of Interior also revoked an expulsion decision in at least one other case involving a person who had appealed against a similar measure.
YIHR submitted freedom of information requests to Serbia’s Ministry of Interior and Administrative Court, seeking anonymised decisions revoking foreign nationals’ residence permits and imposing entry bans between November 2024 and July 2025.
It says the Administrative Court provided only a single 2021 judgment, while the Interior Ministry rejected the request on privacy grounds despite the request for anonymisation. Following YIHR’s appeal, the Serbian Commissioner for Information of Public Importance ordered the ministry to release the documents – but they had not been provided at the time of the report.
Critical voices ‘demonised’
Media outlets close to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party have acted as propaganda instruments, publishing “false, manipulative, and discriminatory content”, the report says.
The word “Ustasa”, referring to World War II Croatian fascists, was used at least 15,488 times in pro-government media outlets in Serbia from 11 December 2024 until 1 March 2026, it notes.
In sessions of parliament, words derived from the same term were mentioned at least 200 times over the same period; the highest-ranking state officials from the Serbian Progressive Party used these words 627 times in public appearances.
Serbian authorities and pro-government media outlets try to discredit Croatian politicians who criticise certain actions by Serbia before the international community, the report says, “most notably Tonino Picula, the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur for Serbia”, but also Stephen Nikola Bartulica, an MEP from the far-right DOMiNO party, who has called for Serbia to pay reparations for the 1990s war.
“This way, an atmosphere is created in which any criticism of the government is delegitimised in advance, as political opponents and critical voices are portrayed as allies of our historic enemies. Public debate is thus reduced to disqualification rather than serving as a space for argument-based discussion,” the report adds.
According to YIHR, Informer is the media outlet in which the word “Ustasa“ appeared most frequently. Over the past year and a half, this word and other words derived from the root ustas were used 4,123 times on TV Informer, a further 200 times in its print edition, and 675 times on its website.
Pink was not far behind: in its morning programme and the show Hit Tvit alone, such words were used 1,511 times, with an additional 342 mentions on its website.
Vecernje novosti also stands out, with these words appearing 1,467 times on its website and a further 375 times in its print edition.
