05. 10. 2012

EC: MEDIA FREEDOM THREATENED

Brussels, October 5, 2012 (B92) - The state of media freedoms in many countries in the process of EU accession is raising serious concern, the European Commission assesses.

The EC says there is a high level of political interference, economic pressures and insufficient level of protection of journalists in these countries, says in the summary of the "Strategy for enlargement and main challenges in 2012-2013".

The overall estimation is that there is media pluralism present in these countries, while several of them have shown the improvement in categorizing libel and defamation as a criminal offence.

"However, freedom of expression is still a serious concern in many of these countries, given the political meddling, economic pressures, self-censorship and lack of adequate protection of journalists from harassment and even violent attacks", says in the document.

In the first half of 2013, the Commission will organize an extension of the conference "Speak Up", held in May 2011, with the aim to point to problems in the area of freedom of expression and media. The conference will gather representatives of media and civil society organizations of the Western Balkans countries and Turkey, in order to determine to what extent the governments of these countries are dealing with these issues, crucial for achieving the European standards in the area of freedom of expression.