Izvor: N1 televizija, 18.Sep.2018, 21:11   (ažurirano 02.Apr.2020.)

Serbia’s minister doesn’t understand EU’s Hahn on media

Vladan Vukosavljevic, Serbia’s Minister of Culture and Information, told N1 on Tuesday he did not know what the EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn had in mind when said there was no progress in media freedom in the Western Balkans.

However, he added that a new media strategy in Serbia would improve the area.

In a recent interview with Deutsche Welle, Hahn said he was not happy with the media situation >> Pročitaj celu vest na sajtu N1 televizija << in the Western Balkans, and reiterated the stand on Monday at the opening of the Media Conference in Skopje, where he said that the enlargement process marked a sign of good progress, but that was not the case in media freedom.

Hahn did not mention any particular Western Balkans state but warned that “there will be no accession without safeguarding media freedom and granting journalists working environments free from intimidation and pressure.”

The level of freedom of expression and media are among crucial issues for Serbia’s accession talks with the European Union.

But Vukosavljevic said he was not sure what exactly did Hahn have in mind whne he said there was no improvement. “Improvement in relations to what?”

“Nevertheless, I believe that there can be an improvement. With new laws and media strategy, coupled with the more aggressive reaction by relevant state institutions when the journalists are obstructed in reporting or are in danger, there is more room for faster and more efficient reactions,” Vukosavljevic said.

However, Jelka Jovanovic from the Independent Union of Journalists in Serbia (NUNS) said the minister should know what Hahn referred to.

"That is a discrepancy between unspecified laws, not adjusted to new technologies and the fact that even good measures are not implemented or are, but selectively,” she said, adding she wondered how the minister did not know that.

Vladimir Radomirovic from the Union of Journalist of Serbia (UNS) said he did not expect fast changes.

“That media strategy and the following laws should improve the media situation and the journalists’ rights, but that will be a long process. It will surely be several years before the journalists in Serbia are more protected from all kinds of pressures and media are be able to exist on the market with enough money needed for the job,” he added.

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