Greece: EU Ignores Deteriorating Rule of Law - Article

Misleading Report Plays Down Curbs in Media, Civic Space

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 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

The EU must prioritise media freedom and human rights in Türkiye - Article

Call on the new European Commission and the new European Parliament to strengthen their commitment in their relations with Türkiye

From Silence to Strength: A Regional Response to SLAPPs in the Western Balkans - Reports

The newly released Balkan Civil Society Development Network Report examines the SLAPP phenomenon across the Western Balkans