RTS, the Serbian national broadcaster, has dismissed their Executive Producer of Pesma za Evroviziju – their national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Olivera Kovačević, who was the Executive Producer for Pesma za Evroviziju, amongst other roles, has been dismissed by RTS. Olivera Kovačević was dismissed after she disobeyed the general director’s order to not allow any statements in support of the student protests during 2025.

Following her dismissal by RTS, Olivera Kovačević had the following to say:

“More specifically, wearing badges, showing a red fist, raising their student booklets on a live broadcast, as well as the performance of the song ‘Za milion godina’ was interpreted as a political message. It is true that as a producer, I did not want to censor anyone at the contest and that it was Pesma za Evroviziju ’25 that showed that RTS is open to all its citizens and that artists have the right to state their opinions without any rude and offensive behavior.

The fact that I publicly supported the students, signed a letter from the employees demanding that RTS News do its job professionally, and finally, that I sued Aleksandar Vučić (President of Serbia) for a series of untruths he told about me and the Serbian Eurovision team, are sufficient, and obviously necessary, reasons for my dismissal.

The EBU didn’t have any objections to our contest, because they broadcast the final of Pesma za Evroviziju ’25 on their official YouTube channel.”

Let us know what you think about Serbia and the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK, BLUESKY, TWITTER, YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM and TIKTOK pages.

The Eurovision Community, which Eurovision Ireland are a part of, celebrates diversity through music. Please keep your comments respectful. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming or any other derogatory or hostile language.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovoix