International Journalists’ Mission Urges EU Not to Act As Nothing Was Happening in Serbia

Belgrade (BETAPHOTO/ANA SLOVIC)

Members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFFR) mission urged the European Union on April 9 to stop acting as though nothing was happening in Serbia and to publicly condemn all cases of attacks on journalists, the media and civil society organizations, and the use of spy software against journalists.

“The EU must speak up. We demand that the EU continues to point out these reasons, consistently and publicly, each time they meet with the representatives of Serbian authorities, including the president, and to declare that publicly,” the members of the mission stated at the news conference at the end of their visit to Serbia.

They requested that the EU publicly declared that it would not continue the negotiations with Serbia about Chapter 23 before all attacks on journalists and civil society organizations have ceased. The members of the mission, consisting of representatives of international journalists’ associations, assessed that, in the media field, Serbia was in a crisis without precedent, which called for a quick response.

They stated that the purpose of their visit was to show solidarity with the journalists and media workers in Serbia. During their visit, they met with journalists, representatives of media associations, of the police and prosecution, and of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the EU Delegation, but not with Serbian state officials.