06. 04. 2011

Open letter to Serbian President Boris Tadic

Honorable Mr. President,

Press freedom in Serbia is seriously compromised at present. The situation in media has never been worse since the democratic changes on October 5, 2000, and the state still does nothing to help the media industry to survive the crisis.

Local press is on its deathbed, while financial position of journalists is deplorable. In some parts of the country, local electronic media do not exist anymore. In Belgrade and Loznica, investigative journalists live under 24-hour police protection, and these are not the only places where their safety is threatened. Independent newspapers like daily "Danas" suffer the damage due to incorrect application of laws by unjust courts. It takes only one word of politicians from the ruling coalition to end a radio program that does not fit into their dominating perception of the world.

Names of journalists Slavko Curuvija and Milan Pantic honorably adorn the signs of two streets, while we still have no answer to the question why independent investigations into the assassinations of our slain colleagues have not yet been ordered.

This is not the reform of media that you have promised when coming to power. The situation is utterly alarming; however, the ruling coalition is procrastinating even with the adoption of the Media Development Strategy, despite the firm pledge, made more than a year ago, of its passing in agreement with us and the European Union. Ignoring deadlines and prolonging the status quo directly jeopardizes the implementation of the fundamental European principle that the state must not control the media, or to influence editorial policy.

We know you are eagerly awaiting the decision from Brussels on the country's candidacy for EU membership, but please note that at this moment Serbia is not offering any satisfactory answers to our questions, let alone European's. Instead of finally stepping into the media sphere reform, it seems that the government is stepping into a new election campaign, in which the deals with coalition partners are ever more important than achieving European standards.

We invite you to do everything in your power so that journalists in Serbia would stop living in poverty, corruption and fear.

UNS, NUNS, NDNV, ANEM and Local Press

In Belgrade, April 6, 2011.