Emergency alerts in Serbia: sirens and SMS warnings

Short answer. The Ministry of Interior runs Serbia's national public siren system; local governments buy, install and maintain the sirens ¹. The all-clear signal, also used for tests, is a steady tone lasting 60 seconds ²³. Since September 2024 an MUP platform sends one-off SMS warnings through mobile operators to phones in the area at risk ⁴⁵. No official alert app was found.

Who runs the sirens?

The Ministry of Interior (MUP) manages the public warning system, and local governments buy, install and maintain the sirens (law art. 96) ¹. Cities announce their siren checks in advance, as Novi Sad and Niš do ²³.

What do the siren signals mean?

Novi Sad describes its test as "a steady tone lasting 60 seconds (the all-clear signal)" ². So if you hear a steady 60-second tone at an announced test time, it is the test.

The Ministry of Defence's 2021 video tutorial series includes one on warning and danger signals, Uzbunjivanje i znakovi opasnosti ⁶. For general background, see our air-raid alert guide.

What should I do when the danger siren sounds?

The Ministry's advice ⁷:

• Outside: go indoors or into a shelter quickly.
• Indoors: move away from windows and doors and stay there.
• Then: follow radio and TV announcements.

Keep a battery radio for this: see emergency radio.

How do phone warnings work in Serbia?

The Platforma za prenos hitnih informacija građanima (platform for passing urgent information to citizens) sends one-time SMS messages through mobile operators to the area at risk ⁴⁸. Messages are sent by the MUP Sector for Emergency Situations ⁴. The official site is upozorenje.mup.gov.rs ⁴.

• Launch: the location-targeted SMS system was officially put into operation in September 2024, according to the weekly Vreme citing the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications ⁵. The ministry listed it among its 2024 results on 27 December 2024 ⁹.
• Cell broadcast: an upgrade was announced for the end of 2025 ⁵. No official confirmation that it is live was found.
• Other channels: warnings also go out on TV and radio, through road-company notices and on the MUP website ⁴⁸.

Is there an official alert app?

No official alert app was found.

Where is 112 displayed?

The law requires 112 and the warning signs to be displayed in all public institutions and other public places (art. 99) ¹. See emergency contacts.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to sign up for SMS warnings?

Our sources describe messages sent by mobile operators to the area at risk ⁴⁸. No registration step is described in them.

What does a steady 60-second siren mean?

It is the all-clear signal, and the same tone is used for siren tests ²³.

Does Serbia have cell broadcast?

An upgrade was announced for the end of 2025, but no official confirmation that it is live was found ⁵.

Where do I check official warnings online?

On upozorenje.mup.gov.rs, the MUP warning platform ⁴.

Sources

1. Narodna skupština Republike Srbije (consolidated text via Paragraf) — Zakon o smanjenju rizika od katastrofa i upravljanju vanrednim situacijama ("Sl. glasnik RS", br. 87/2018) — https://www.paragraf.rs/propisi/zakon-o-smanjenju-rizika-od-katastrofa-i-upravljanju-vanrednim-situacijama.html (accessed 2026-10-20)
2. Grad Novi Sad — Obaveštenje o proveri ispravnosti i oglašavanju sirena za javno uzbunjivanje (12.12.2023) — https://novisad.rs/lat/obavestenje-o-proveri-ispravnosti-i-oglasavanju-sirena-za-javno-uzbunjivanje-2 (accessed 2026-10-20)
3. Grad Niš — Провера сирена за узбуњивање на територији Ниша — https://www.ni.rs/provera-sirena-za-uzbunjivanje-na-teritoriji-nisa/ (accessed 2026-10-20)
4. Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova — УПОЗОРЕЊЕ! – Платформа за пренос хитних информација грађанима — https://upozorenje.mup.gov.rs/ (accessed 2026-10-20)
5. Vreme (media) — Srbija uvela sistem za brza upozorenja: SMS poruke o neposrednoj opasnosti (16 Sept. 2024) — https://vreme.com/drustvo/srbija-uvela-sistem-za-brza-upozorenja-sms-poruke-o-neposrednoj-opasnosti (accessed 2026-10-20)
6. Ministarstvo odbrane Republike Srbije — Praktični tutorijali: Šta raditi u slučaju... (25.10.2021) — https://www.mod.gov.rs/lat/18530/prakticni-tutorijali-sta-raditi-u-slucaju-18530 (accessed 2026-10-20)
7. Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova, Sektor za vanredne situacije — Савети грађанима — http://prezentacije.mup.gov.rs/svs/saveti.html (accessed 2026-10-20)
8. Ministarstvo informisanja i telekomunikacija — Prenos hitnih informacija građanima u slučaju najave ili pojave opasnosti od elementarne nepogode ili tehničko-tehnološke nesreće — https://mit.gov.rs/karijera/sr/8037 (accessed 2026-10-20)
9. Ministarstvo informisanja i telekomunikacija — Održana godišnja pres konferencija Ministarstva informisanja i telekomunikacija (27. decembar 2024) — https://mit.gov.rs/vest/sr/12159/odrzana-godisnja-pres-konferencija-ministarstva-informisanja-i-telekomunikacija.php (accessed 2026-10-20)