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Serbian government is intimidating critical to the government individuals, journalists and NGOs with financial auditing.
According to the Albanian web portal Faktoje, government and the Ministry of Health have been ignoring freedom of information requests on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three members of the European Parliament have requested the European Commission to set up an expert group to report on media and state capture in Serbia. They note that Serbian democracy is endangered, among others, by lack of basic media freedom and rule of law.
Solidarity within the media community and joint public pressure on political institutions and decision makers are key to solving many problems that journalists and media in BiH have been facing for years – this was pointed out during the online discussion on the research “Indicators on the level of media freedom and journalists’ safety in BiH 2019”, organised by BH Journalists Association.
Denis Dzidic, director of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina, was given a Nino Catic Journalism Award on Friday for long-term reporting about the Srebrenica genocide and for contributing to preserving the truth about the July 1995 mass killings.
The businessman and owner of the Bulgarian media outlets "Dnevnik.bg" and "Capital Weekly" Ivo Prokopiev could be sentenced this Sunday due to a case related to the privatisation of a state-owned power distribution company in 2011. The consequences of the verdict could damage the media freedom in Bulgaria considering the fact that his media outlets are sources of serious ivestigative reporting and examples of quality journalism.
After three years of North Macedonia’s new government under the Social Democrats, pledges to reform the media have been largely delayed. The public service broadcaster, Macedonian Radio and Television, MRT, is also suffering from lack of reforms.
Applications are being invited for the Serbian part of the EU Investigative Journalism Awards in the Western Balkans and Turkey, which is being administered by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN Hub) and local partners. Application deadline is June 21, 2020.
The Albanian Ombudsman has found a number of concerning issues regarding violence used against protestors of the National Theatre demolition, as well as detention of journalists.
Measures against COVID-19 are heavily violating press freedom in Albania. Last Friday, private radio and TV Ora News has been ordered to shut down and fined 16,000 euros by state health authorities for allegedly not respecting social distancing in its shows. The occasion was that two anchormen who were critical of Prime Minister Edi Rama and his Socialist Party held shows with three people in the studio instead of the maximum two people allowed by lockdown rules. Ora News is one of the leading independent media outlets in Albania.
