Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić struggled to keep attention focused on his reform agenda at a presentation at the London School of Economics on Monday – in the face of a crowd that wanted to talk about everything but.

In a 35-minute speech, Vučić – who became prime minister in April – touted his country’s successes in passing structural reforms to the banking and labor sectors, securing free trade agreements with neighbouring countries and changes to rein in public wages and pensions.

Although some such moves are painful, they are necessary to improve the Serbian economy and prepare for eventual membership to the European Union in 2020, Vučić said, reaffirming Serbia’s commitment to “the European path.”

Serbia was the only country that took on such reforms without outside pressure, he noted.

“I am absolutely certain Serbia won’t be the poorest country in the EU,” Vučić said. “We won’t be a burden.”

When the floor opened up for questions, however, audience members focused on free speech restrictions in the country and the close ties between Serbia and Russia, as well as the fallout from a football match between Serbia and Albania which ended with both teams fined by the Union of European Football Associations, or UEFA.

Serbian press groups and the European Federation of Journalists raised protest at the removal of popular Serbian news show “The Impression of the Week,” which members took to be the result of political pressure.

A man who identified himself as a “Serbian working in London” suggested that repression of the media was the worst its been since the 1990s when Vučić was the Minister of Information under former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes.

Vučić denied that his government had anything to do with the show’s removal, saying that it was being “scapegoated for commercial decisions.”

“My past has made it easier to attack me for media censorship. It’s a nice story, but it’s simply not true,” Vučić said.

The line of questioning was compounded by a solicitor speaking for Sandulović Nikola, the leader of the Republicans party which opposes Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The question quickly turned into a quick confrontation between the two men before James Ker-Lindsay, a senior research fellow at LSEE and chair of the event, got the situation under control.

“I thought I would have the chance to show the total media censorship in this country, and the censorship of the Republican party in Serbia,” Nikola said after the event.

The European Commission released a progress report on Serbia’s accession in which the organization praised recent gains in public administration reform, but said the government would need to keep working to ensure an independent judiciary. The Commission also warned of “concerns about deteriorating conditions for the full exercise of freedom of expression.”

Audience members questioned the prime minister on the country’s relationship with Russia, which is facing international sanctions for its actions in Ukraine. According to The Economist, Serbia has so far refused to take part in the sanctions, and hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin for a military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the military offensive that freed Belgrade from the Germans in World War II.

Serbia is also one of several nations that had been working with Russia on the South Stream gas pipeline prior to the deteriorating conditions in Ukraine. Bulgaria ceased work on the pipeline earlier this year. It, alongside other countries in the region, is reliant on Russian gas for heating.

“We do worry very much about winter, and all the winters to come,” Vučić said.