The Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS) called on the Serbian lawmakers to amend Articles 39 and 41 of the Draft Law on Public Information and Media in a way that they remain the same as in the current Law on Public Information and thereby enable Serbia to obtain a basic media legislation that has support of all relevant public representative and journalistic and media associations and is fully aligned with the Information System Development Strategy for the period 2020-2025.

Disputable articles of the law proposal would legalise the return of state ownership of the media, which contradicts the objectives and measures of the Media Strategy, and prevent the creation of a functional, sustainable and fair media market protected from political influence, the association has warned.

Over the recent years, NUNS independently, through the Media Freedom Coalition and in cooperation with other partner organizations, has made a huge contribution to the process of adoption of key media laws – the Law on Public Information and Media and the Law on Electronic Media, and the drafts of these laws undeniably contain a number of positive solutions that should improve the media landscape and contribute to progress of the freedom of expression in Serbia.

The association said that the process of adoption of these laws was not easy and was often hindered due to the state’s inactivity, but that during the last session on October 17 the Government accepted most of the demands of the media community and thereby created a legal basis for the establishment of a quality public information system, making a big step in the process of Serbia’s EU accession.

However, the NUNS has warned, two controversial articles that the government did not want to give up, cancel many good solutions and improvements that the new media laws bring, which can be disastrous for the media market and freedom of expression.

“We repeat that from the first indication of the return of state ownership in the media, the Media Freedom Coalition, of which NUNS is a member, harshly and uncompromisingly criticised the government’s intention and called on them to remain committed to the measures and goals from the Media Strategy, adopted at the session of the Serbian Government in January 2020,” the association said, reminding of a few goals, measures and indicators of success from the Media Strategy.

– Special objective 2: Established functional, sustainable and fair media market protected from political influence;

– Measure 2.3: Reduced and transparent influence of the state on the media market so that there are equal market conditions for all media;

– Success indicator 2.3.1: The number of companies in which the state has a share in the founding rights of media publishers reduced to zero.