Alpac Capital, a Luxembourg investment vehicle with known links to Hungary's state‑backed Széchenyi Funds, has acquired Serbia's remaining independent broadcasters N1 and Nova S just weeks before the country's October parliamentary election. The deal, announced in early September, bypassed normal regulatory approvals and has sparked alarm among media watchdogs and opposition parties who fear a further erosion of press freedom in a nation already marked by large‑scale protests against the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.

How the transaction unfolded

The purchase was completed on 3 September, the same day the previous directors of the two channels were dismissed. Neither the Luxembourg financial regulator nor Serbia's competition authority had yet signed off on the change of ownership. In Montenegro, where Nova S also operates, similar clearance is pending. The speed of the transaction, coupled with the opacity of its financing, has prompted calls for a thorough investigation before any licence is renewed.

Alpac Capital's involvement is not new to European media markets. In 2022, the firm, led by Portuguese financier Pedro Vargas, bought a controlling stake in Euronews. Investigations by journalists at Direkt36, Le Monde and Expresso traced roughly €45 million of the purchase price to Hungary's state‑controlled Széchenyi Funds, with an additional loan coming from a company linked to a businessman close to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government. Portugal's financial regulator later fined the fund for inadequate anti‑money‑laundering safeguards.

Alpac's relationship with Budapest stretches back to 2017, when the Hungarian government handed the firm management of a fund seeded by the state export‑credit agency EXIM, the banking group OTP and the energy conglomerate MOL. From 2021 to 2025, Vargas sat on the board of telecoms group 4iG, whose contracts with the Hungarian state are now under criminal investigation. These connections illustrate a pattern of Hungarian public money being funneled into media assets across the continent.

Why the timing matters

Serbia's election, scheduled for 17 October, comes amid the largest street protests the country has seen in a decade. Demonstrators have been using N1 and Nova S to broadcast live footage of police crackdowns and to give opposition figures a platform. In a letter to Serbia's information minister, Vargas wrote that journalists who "see their mission as more than reporting" risk becoming "part of the game". He pledged a "press that gives audiences the facts, as they are, without attempting to take sides". Critics argue that such rhetoric is a thinly‑veiled justification for turning independent outlets into mouthpieces for the ruling party.

Opposition leader Dragan Đilas, whose party is expected to gain ground in the vote, warned that the acquisition could silence dissenting voices at a crucial moment. "When a government can buy the only channels that broadcast protests, it no longer needs to resort to overt censorship," he said at a press conference in Belgrade.

European observers note that the rush to close the deal may be driven by two factors. First, Alpac may be trying to complete the purchase before Hungarian investigators, now led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, finish tracing the flow of public funds that financed previous media takeovers. Second, the firm appears to be positioning itself to profit from a post‑election environment in which the Serbian government could grant favourable advertising contracts or regulatory concessions to owners perceived as loyal.

Regulatory response and EU oversight

The European Board for Media Services, created under the EU Media Freedom Act, has opened a preliminary review of the concentration of media ownership in the case of N1 and Nova S. The Act, which entered into force in 2023, includes provisions that require full disclosure of the ultimate beneficial owners of media companies operating in the single market. Luxembourg's financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), has been asked to verify the source of the funds used for the purchase.

Serbian authorities have so far defended the transaction, stating that it complies with national law and that the new owners will respect editorial independence. Information Minister Aleksandar Vulin, a close ally of President Aleksandar Vučić, said the sale "will bring much‑needed investment to the media sector". However, the competition agency has not yet issued a formal decision, and the lack of transparency has drawn criticism from the European Federation of Journalists, which called the move "a direct threat to pluralism".

In Brussels, the European Commission's Directorate‑General for Competition has not opened a formal probe, but a spokesperson noted that any cross‑border acquisition involving EU‑registered entities must be examined for compliance with competition and state‑aid rules. "We are monitoring the situation closely, especially given the political context in Serbia," the official said.

Implications for the wider region

The episode underscores a broader trend: the export of media‑ownership models that were honed under Orbán's government in Hungary. While the Hungarian system of patronage is currently being dismantled, with Prime Minister Magyar overhauling the presidency, the prosecution service and state broadcasters, the networks of shell companies and captive funds that financed the regime's propaganda machine remain active abroad.

Analysts point out that the Hungarian playbook does not rely on direct state control alone. Instead, it leverages private intermediaries that can acquire critical media assets under the guise of commercial transactions. Once in place, these owners can subtly shift editorial lines, limit investigative reporting and align coverage with the interests of the benefactor, all without the overt appearance of censorship.

"The danger is that authoritarian techniques become institutional knowledge that can be reproduced by actors with no formal political affiliation," says media scholar Dr. Ana Petrović of the University of Ljubljana. "When a fund with opaque financing buys a newsroom, the transaction is treated like any other market deal. The political function of that purchase is hidden behind the language of investment."

Other countries in the Western Balkans are watching closely. Montenegro's media market, already dominated by a handful of owners, could see similar moves if the Alpac vehicle seeks to expand its regional footprint. In Bosnia‑Herzegovina, where ethnic divisions already fragment the media landscape, the prospect of foreign‑backed consolidation raises fresh concerns about the ability of independent journalists to operate.

What could change the outcome?

Transparency is the key lever. If regulators in Luxembourg, Serbia and Montenegro demand full disclosure of the ultimate beneficial owners and the source of the financing before granting approval, the deal could be delayed or blocked. The EU's Media Freedom Act specifically calls for such scrutiny, and the European Board for Media Services has already signalled its intention to apply the rule.

Hungarian authorities, now tasked with investigating the use of public money in past media acquisitions, could also play a role. By tracing the flow of funds from the Széchenyi Funds to Alpac's Luxembourg vehicle, they could determine whether the purchase violates national or EU rules on state aid.

For Serbian civil society, the immediate priority is to keep the pressure on the new owners to maintain editorial independence. Journalists at N1 and Nova S have already begun drafting statements pledging to uphold their reporting standards, but they face a precarious future if commercial pressures intensify.

International watchdogs, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have urged the EU to treat the case as more than a routine commercial transaction. "When a state‑linked fund buys the only independent broadcasters in a country on the brink of an election, the stakes are too high for a hands‑off approach," said RSF's European director, Marie‑Claude Bouchard.

Ultimately, the episode illustrates how the dismantling of authoritarian structures in one country does not automatically erase their influence elsewhere. As Hungary's own media empire is being pulled apart, its remnants are finding new life through private channels that operate across borders, challenging regulators to adapt their tools and vigilance to a more subtle form of media capture.