A few days ago it became known that the Polish Newsmax is preparing to launch. The channel is recruiting journalists and television production specialists, renting a studio in Warsaw and already planning the start of broadcasting. At the first stage, the media project Newsmax Polska will operate as an online service, and at the next stage – as a full-fledged television broadcaster.
The launch of the conservative right-wing channel on the Polish market is being handled by the media company Newsmax Balkans headquartered in Belgrade (also involving the company Adria DTH BV).
Preparations for the opening of Newsmax Polska were announced in February of this year by the top managers of Newsmax Balkans.
Aleksandra Krstić, General Director of Newsmax Balkans, wrote on LinkedIn: “As part of the launch of Newsmax Polska, we are opening journalist positions in Warsaw. We are building a local, independent newsroom, in Polish language, with high editorial and production standards — and we’re looking for professionals who want to be part of something new from the very beginning.
If you believe in strong journalism, open debate and modern news production, we would love to hear from you.”
Why exactly such a path of entering the European market was chosen by the American cable channel?
From Newsmax to Newsmax Balkans
It should be recalled that the television channel Newsmax, which belongs to a friend of US President Donald Trump, Christopher Ruddy, is one of the leading cable news networks in the United States. Newsmax is available in more than 100 countries on five continents (including in Europe) and reaches tens of millions of viewers through cable and digital broadcasting, applications and social networks.
In the Balkans, the channel not only retransmits media content from the United States, but also produces its own materials for broadcasting, and is in fact a local media outlet.
The Newsmax channel began operating in the Western Balkans back in 2020 as Newsmax Adria, a joint project of Newsmax Media and United Media – a media company operating in South-Eastern Europe. In 2022, the activity of Newsmax Adria was terminated.
In 2024, the channel was launched again, already under the name Newsmax Balkans, with a changed editorial staff and ownership structure.
On its website, the channel posted the following information:
“Newsmax Balkans is a cable television founded in Belgrade in March 2024 as the first media partner of the American television Newsmax outside the United States.
Newsmax Balkans is the first 4K news television in the region, aiming at successful positioning on the media market through innovative technological solutions and quality content.
The television began broadcasting on October 14, 2024.”
As media report, according to the MAVISE database of the European Audiovisual Observatory at the Council of Europe, broadcasting takes place on the basis of a Serbian license, and the de facto owner of the station is the company Telekom Srbija, the controlling stake of which belongs to the state, that is, the Republic of Serbia.
Newsmax Balkans, in addition to Serbia, is present in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and since December of last year – also in Albania, as an online service.
From Newsmax Balkans to Newsmax Europe
The opening of the channel outside the Western Balkans region, in Poland, is not a random adventure, but part of an established strategy for promoting the channel to Eastern European media markets, which the management of Telekom Srbija spoke about last year.
Vladimir Lučić, General Director of Telekom Srbija, announced the planned strategic transformation of Newsmax Balkans into Newsmax Europe in mid-2025 during several interviews. As part of the announced expansion, the launch of regional broadcasting was planned not only in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Greece.
“I believe that this is the largest journalistic project that Serbia has ever seen, since our headquarters in Belgrade will serve Eastern Europe,” the General Director of Telekom Srbija emphasized. “Belgrade is becoming a natural starting point for the European expansion of Newsmax. The owner of the network shares the ambitions to position the channel as a relevant media voice in this part of the world,” Lučić noted. According to him, the countries that are the focus of expansion have demonstrated a need for content that balances information, analysis and perspective beyond established frameworks.
According to the plans, the Eastern European region will be covered by Newsmax Balkans / Newsmax Europe by the end of 2026.
Interestingly, Ukraine falls out of the plan of the “Serbian expansion”. Newsmax is preparing to start Ukrainian broadcasting also in the first half of 2026, but the founders of Newsmax Ukraine, apparently, are in no way connected with Serbia.
“An aircraft carrier in Europe”
The plan of Newsmax Balkans to cover Eastern Europe was presented in November last year in Washington. At the ceremonial presentation, which took place in the very center of the US capital, members of Congress, influential figures from political and business circles of America, as well as the leadership of the American channel Newsmax and Telekom Srbija gathered. As Newsmax Balkans noted in its report, the event “emphasized the message” that the Balkan representative of this media “is becoming an important pillar of its future European expansion.”
At the ceremonial dinner, founder and General Director of Newsmax Christopher Ruddy emphasized that the expansion of the network to the European market is a natural step. “Serbia is an important country in Europe with an exceptional culture and history, as well as a key ally of the United States. The General Director of Telekom Srbija Vladimir Lučić has been an outstanding supporter of the United States, and we love supporting our friends,” said Ruddy. According to him, cooperation with Telekom Srbija was a logical choice. “When the opportunity to cooperate arose, we immediately seized it. Our partnership with you has been exceptional, and we are sincerely grateful for the work of journalists like you and all our friends in Serbia,” stated the head of the American media company.
Speaking about the importance of the television channel itself, Ruddy called Newsmax Balkans a key platform for entering the European market. He also offered an interesting comparison. “You know, in military terminology they say that the fleet is led by an aircraft carrier. It is a massive ship that commands respect – it is like ‘a big stick’. So we see Newsmax Balkans as our aircraft carrier in Europe,” Ruddy explained figuratively. “A big stick” is part of the well-known American idiomatic expression “Speak softly and carry a big stick”, which means diplomacy backed by force.
After Eastern Europe, expansion to the media market of Western Europe is planned.
“We hope that after completing the Eastern European phase we will move to Western Europe,” the General Director of Telekom Srbija announced.
Conclusions
What conclusions can be drawn from the plans for the European expansion of Newsmax and the participation of Serbia in this project?
Trump’s team, specifically his media team, is betting on the development of an alternative to the European media ecosystem. The current American authorities and pro-government forces are not satisfied with the media field in Europe as being too liberal in content and too limited by the so-called standards of journalism in form.
Newsmax decided not to limit itself to broadcasting its “Made in USA” product (which is logical). Local versions for European countries will be created, and are being created. They started outside the European Union (Western Balkans, Ukraine), and continued in Eastern European EU countries (starting with Poland).
Why Poland was chosen for the first step of expansion into the EU is not explained. It can be assumed that the choice was made because of the popularity of conservative ideology among Poles. But why the Americans decided to go to Warsaw through Belgrade remains an open question. It is not excluded that Telekom Srbija is taking on part of the financial costs.
The expansion of the American Newsmax cannot be regarded as a purely ideological project like the Russian RT (Russia Today) or “Sputnik”. In the case of the dissemination of Russian media for foreign audiences, it is only about state propaganda. The American Newsmax, as a private broadcaster, must also take care of the financial payback of its services.
At the same time, it can be expected that through the American-Serbian media there will be promotion of narratives that are currently not mainstream for official Brussels, but they have significant support from the White House, the authorities and society of Serbia, certain EU countries, part of European politicians and citizens. It concerns criticism of the EU in its current form, criticism of the current European liberal ideology, European values, and European domestic and foreign policy. Newsmax may become a platform for criticism of excessive centralization of the EU, for promoting the idea of “protection of national sovereignty” of European states, a skeptical attitude toward common European policies, primarily migration, environmental and sanctions policy, for forming “another view” of the Russian-Ukrainian war – more detached, less pro-Ukrainian.
Polish journalists have already expressed concern about the possible dissemination of Russian propaganda through the American-Serbian Newsmax in Poland because of the special relations between Belgrade and Moscow, in particular the categorical refusal to join European sanctions against Russia.
In addition to the Russian one, there is also a purely Serbian information dimension that does not always coincide with the European, and in particular Polish one. Here are a few examples: in no media with the participation of the Serbian state will Kosovo ever be mentioned as an independent republic, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 will never be characterized other than aggression, and the Croatian operation “Storm” of 1995 – other than a crime. It should be added that these Serbian narratives also contradict the official policy of the United States, but the participants of the project somehow managed to settle this problem.
Participation in the European expansion of Newsmax will allow official Belgrade to disseminate its narratives to form a loyal information field (and here there is already an analogy with Russian state media).
In addition, through the dissemination in Europe of Newsmax with headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia will be able to strengthen its subjectivity and its influence at the European level, become a more noticeable player on the political map of the continent, and Aleksandar Vučić will be able to strengthen his political weight both in the international arena and within the country. (Which is of particular importance in view of the likely elections in the near future).
In general, the partnership of the American Newsmax and the state-controlled Serbian company Telekom Srbija is an interesting example of combining different interests and goals into one “soft power” project. The “aircraft carrier” is setting sail, and, it seems, already in the next 6–8 months it will become clear whether Belgrade and Washington will manage to achieve a synergistic effect from cooperation, implement the tasks set before themselves and become a noticeable part of the media landscape of Eastern Europe.
CWBS Analytical Group
