Arno Gujon, director of the Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy, criticized Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on the social media platform X, claiming that “literally everyone in the world knows that RSF is a propaganda NGO with no credibility.”
In response, Pavol Szalai of RSF stated that “everyone knows that you are not telling the truth about RSF.”
Gujon referenced a tweet by U.S. Vice President Jay DiVens, who had ironically replied to a post by MEP Helmut Brandstätter, asserting that Europe has the highest press freedom while the United States ranks only 57th. DiVens cited RSF as the source.
Gujon commented:
“Look at the comments below. Literally everyone in the world knows that ‘Reporters Without Borders’ is a propaganda NGO with no credibility. Everyone except our left-liberals, of course. For them, one tweet by this controversial organization is like a sacred text, especially if it criticizes Serbia and its president.”
Szalai refuted these claims, referring to Istinomer, which highlighted that RSF never refused to include the deaths of 16 Serbian journalists and media workers during the 1999 NATO bombing of RTS in its annual reports.
“RSF has never considered RTS employees a legitimate target of airstrikes. This false information has become part of efforts to discredit RSF following a recent investigation into how RT Balkan spreads Russian propaganda,” Szalai said.
RSF’s World Press Freedom Report 2000 had noted that the 1999 NATO bombing “raised questions about the legitimacy of (air) strikes,” emphasizing RSF’s impartial reporting on press freedom and safety of journalists.
