Rule of Law and Media Freedom in Serbia: a Shadow Report - Article

This Shadow Report prepared by the Independent Journalists' Association and OBC Transeuropa provides a comprehensive and updated analysis of the Serbian media landscape and suggests a set of recommendations addressed to competent authorities and relevant stakeholders 

2024 Rule of Law Report - Country Chapter North Macedonia - Reports

Despite constitutional guarantees, North Macedonian journalists face many challenges regarding freedom of expression and media censorship. Troubling precedents, such as defamation cases, are a serious hurdle to media freedom in the country. Journalism remains an unappealing career option for many due to insufficient and non-transparent state funding

2024 Rule of Law Report - Country Chapter Montenegro - Reports

Montenegro adopted a comprehensive legislative package in June 2024 to bolster media pluralism and freedom in line with EU standards. The legislative packages aim to grant the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services (AAVMS) greater autonomy and enforcement power. Improvements have also been noticed in how the authorities respond to reported violence against journalists, but there remains a lack of effective judicial action, specifically in past cases

2024 Rule of Law Report - Country Chapter Croatia - Reports

Media Freedom, pluralism and the Right to Information are legally safeguarded in Croatia. However, skepticism persists regarding the independence of the Council for Electronic Media and the public service broadcaster, HRT. Media ownership transparency remains a challenge and SLAPPs targeting journalists are a growing concern

2024 Rule of Law Report - Country Chapter Romania - Reports

The public service media grapples with funding shortages and issues of editorial autonomy that lead to challenges in fulfilling its mandate. Though a robust legal framework with imposition of penalties is in place, some political parties have increased their financing of private media for political advertising. Threats and harassment against journalists continue and steady access to information is not available

2024 Rule of Law Report - Country Chapter Bulgaria - Reports

The report points out a set of challenges to media freedom in the country, including the independence of the media regulator, the management of existing registers for media ownership, the implementation of legal safeguards for economic and political interference and editorial independence, access to public information, and increasing cases of threats of lawsuits and censorship

Kosovo’s media law enables political capture of regulatory body - Article

OBCT and Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners express deep alarm over the passage of a new media law by the Kosovo Parliament and call on the Constitutional Court to repeal the bill

Digital security in Serbia: another challenge to media freedom - Article

Media outlets in the country are increasingly exposed to cyber attacks, online threats and manipulations. We talked about digital security and its impact on independent journalism in Serbia with Bojan Perkov, digital policy coordinator at SHARE Foundation

By Serena Epis

Originally published on OBCT , also available in ITA 

Croatia: Faktograf journalist Melita Vrsaljko assaulted twice in a week - Article

OBCT and the undersigned organisations express deep concerns about the physical attacks targeting Melita Vrsaljko, a journalist working for the Croatian fact-checking website Faktograf.hr and the Climate Portal

France: Media freedom coalition condemns Vivendi’s disinformation campaign against Reporters Without Borders - Article

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners strongly condemn the cyber disinformation campaign against the press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF).