24. 04. 2015

EC: Special attention to media freedom in W. Balkans

24.4.2015. (Tanjug) - The situation concerning freedom of the media is not good anywhere in the Western Balkans, and in its annual reports reviewing the progress made by candidate countries, the European Commission (EC) will dedicate much attention to the topic, it has been said at a panel discussion on the region's media, held in Brussels.

BRUSSELS - The situation concerning freedom of the media is not good anywhere in the Western Balkans, and in its annual reports reviewing the progress made by candidate countries, the European Commission (EC) will dedicate much attention to the topic, it has been said at a panel discussion on the region's media, held in Brussels. The media are at risk, not only in candidate countries, but also in the Eastern neighborhood, even in the EU itself, said the EC's Principal Adviser on Civil Society and Media Andris Kesteris in the panel discussion organized by the European Policy Center on Thursday. In our next annual progress report, we will devote much more attention to the issue than it was the case in previous years, Kesteris said, adding that the EC expert delegation would come to Serbia in July to review the implementation of the set of media laws to date. There are no uniform criteria for freedom of the media in the EU, so the issue is addressed within Chapter 23, which covers the field of fundamental rights, and it is the Commission's stance that in accession negotiations with Serbia, the chapter should be opened as soon as possible, he said.