The financing method of the Portuguese investment group Alpac Capital, which intends to take over independent media in Montenegro and Serbia, is not publicly known, so the possible sale of these media to Alpac could lead to political influence over them.
This is stated in a statement by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières – RSF).
The organization emphasizes that they are concerned that the sale could lead to political influence on media within the Adria News Network (ANN) (which includes Vijesti, N1, Nova S, Radar, Danas…) and therefore calls for full transparency of financing, as well as the establishment of binding and enforceable guarantees of editorial independence before European authorities approve this transaction.
«European media and competition authorities — including the Montenegrin competition authority, as well as the Luxembourg government and its media regulator — are preparing to review the sale of ANN by Luxembourg-based United Group. The media group’s portfolio includes N1, the last major independent television channel in Serbia, Vijesti, one of Montenegro’s leading news outlets, as well as television stations in EU member states Croatia and Slovenia. The sale is likely to reshape the media landscape in the Balkans, but the source of the funds used by the potential buyer, Portuguese investment group Alpac Capital, has not been publicly disclosed,» RSF said in a statement published on its website.
They add that investigative media outlets OCCRP and KRIK published a leaked recording in 2025, in which the CEOs of United Group and Serbian state-owned operator Telekom Srbija discuss how to respond to demands for the removal of media executives, attributed to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
«His attacks on N1 contributed to his inclusion on RSF’s list of Predators of Media Freedom for 2025. In addition, according to a joint investigation by Le Monde, Expresso and Direkt36, Alpac Capital acquired its main media asset, the pan-European television network Euronews, in 2022, partly thanks to funds from sources close to former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — an ally of the Serbian president and another predator of media freedom,» the statement said.
The director of RSF’s Prague bureau, Pavol Szalai, said that the sale of ANN represents an earthquake in the ownership structure of media in the Balkans, while key information about financing and solid protection mechanisms between owners and editorial staff is not available.
«Non-transparent financing fosters dangerous connections, which can threaten the editorial independence of these media outlets — an independence historically embodied by the Balkan media N1 and Vijesti, two media outlets that have been targeted by the Serbian authorities. We call on Alpac Capital to disclose this information, and for European regulators to condition the approval of the takeover on real and verifiable guarantees of editorial independence,» he said.
Editorial independence called into question
According to the RSF statement, after the Serbian investigative media outlet KRIK published a draft of the agreement on May 14, 2026, the transaction was officially announced on May 29, and its conclusion is planned for the second half of 2026.
The transaction is formally structured as a sale between two companies registered in Luxembourg: Summer Parent S.à rl, the ultimate shareholder of United Group, and European Future Media Investments, an entity owned by Alpac Capital.
«In a joint press release, Alpac Capital and United Group highlight ANN’s existing ‘governance framework’, which they present as ‘the most effective way to protect editorial independence, while ensuring stability, transparency and resilience of the business’. The statement claims that ‘Alpac Capital was chosen because it offered the greatest value, while meeting the principles of governance and independence established from the very beginning,'» the statement states.
When RSF reportedly contacted them for details on the financing, guarantees of editorial independence and other aspects of the transaction, neither Alpac Capital nor its CEO Pedro Vargas David responded.
«Serbia ranks 104th, and Montenegro ranks 41st among 180 countries and territories included in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index for 2026,» the statement said.
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