Russian newspaper also begins publication in Serbia

The Russian newspaper Topic and Facty has also started publishing in Serbia, with journalists staffed by the nationalist weekly Pecat and published by the same company.

The Russian newspaper Topic of Fact entered the Serbian media scene last week with articles on the Kremlin criticising the West and denying accusations of Moscow's involvement in the Scrip Sergei poisoning case.

The editor of Milorad Vucelic, founder of the nationalist weekly Pecats, was unable to comment, but the editor-in-chief of the argument of Fact Sasa Francisti presented editorial policies in a letter to its readers.

For centuries we in Serbia have regretted having no direct relationship with Russia. Now we finally have it, and through the project the argument of Fact Serbia, we are creating a link between the two countries,” Francis wrote.

Francis, who is also editor of the online edition of Pecs, said the AIF would use arguments and facts to educate Serbs and bring Russia and Serbia closer.

The first monthly edition of the paper, which was released on April 4th, was announced by Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Chepurin, through his official account in Titter.

The newspaper published on its first page an interview with Chepur, titled “All of them better be friends with Russia”, illustrated by a famous photo-densage by Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he appears riding a bear.

Much of the content consists of opinions and the only ones represented are pro-Kremlin and anti-Western attitudes.

An opinion written by editor-in-chief Francisti, titled “The poisonous work of the West” commends the friendship between Slavs while accusing the West of hypocrisy.

“My friendship in the West is a category limited by personal interest, selfishness, contempt, injustice, hypocrisy and lies,” Francis wrote.

A large part of the paper is dedicated to rejecting accusations of Russian involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Scripal, a former Russian intelligence official, and his daughter, Yulia, in England.

An interview for Russophobic that also affects the Scripal case asks: Why do Russophobics in Serbia despise their country?

The paper also offers an article by a pro-Russian minister in the Serbian government, Nenad Popovic, dedicated Putin's support for Serbia on the issue of Kosovo's independence.

The argument of Fact is the latest addition to the pro-Kremlin media group in Serbia and the Balkans, which a recent report found to be the most sensitive in Europe for so-called “false warnings”.

The argument of Fact was also printed in Montenegro in 2011 at the peak of the Russian business boom in the country. It was closed in 2015, along with a number of Montenegrins from another Russian popular newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Originally established in 1978, the argument of Facty is now owned by Promsvyazbank, a private bank from Moscow.

On its official Russian website, Facty's argument boasts that it is the largest and most popular weekly “and says it “leads the Russian press abroad”.

According to a BBC review, the argument of Fact circulated more than 33 million copies in 1990, but its readers have declined significantly since then. /Callo.com/.