RSF says worried about Serbia’s printshops refusal to print UM daily

BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

Pavol Salaj, the Reporters Without Borders, RSF, representative for the Western Balkans, said on Friday his organisation was worried about the refusal by printing companies in Serbia to print the United Media new daily Nova, bearing in mind the media freedom situation in the country.

Speaking to the independent Danas daily, he said the media diversity was imperilled in Serbia. The authorities should create favourable conditions for its development to improve democracy and its aspiration to join the European Union, Salaj said.

“The printing companies must say why they cannot print the new daily. In any case, we’ll carefully monitor the situation related to the new media outlet and the problem with media diversity in Serbia,” Salaj said.

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He added that there were numerous obstacles to the work of independent media in Serbia and recalled the last RSF report that showed media freedom in the country had worsened.

Salaj on Thursday told the Voice of America (VOA) that alongside Montenegro and Bulgaria, Serbia was the country with the weakest performance in media freedom in the European Union and the Balkans, accompanied by the lack of political will to protect journalists.