edia freedom is a key pillar of democratic societies. As the countries of the Western Balkans ready themselves for European Union (EU) accession, media freedom is one issue within the larger accession process that has come under increasing scrutiny to ensure independent voices are sufficiently represented, and access is widely distributed among diverse populations. Working hand–in–hand with the EU Commission, new laws and regulations have been developed for the Western Balkans to harmonize their legal frameworks with those of the EU. In Serbia, new media laws were passed in late 2023 to align Serbia with the EU and provide a legal framework for greater media freedom and pluralism, which EU Commission President von der Leyen touted as “important reforms,” while also calling for effective implementation.
Serbia based its new media law on the September 2022 European Media Freedom (EMF) Act with the goals of ensuring that media and journalists are insulated from political interference, ownership is transparent for citizen media consumers, and disinformation is not allowed to proliferate. Those who operate in good faith in the media space in Serbia recognize how critically important it is to the European future of Serbia and the entire Western Balkans region to comply with EU laws and regulations regarding media ownership and to ensure content dissemination is free, fair, and diverse. And it is not simply Serbia that must act. All Western Balkans’ countries must adhere to the EU’s media freedom agenda regarding ownership transparency and good content stewardship.
However, one issue in the EMF that has come under fire in Serbia—as well as in the EU—is state ownership of media. Per the EMF, EU member states are allowed to possess majority ownership in national media conglomerates. In Serbia, as in Belgium and other European countries, the government holds a majority–stake in the country’s major telecommunication operator, owning 58.11 percent of Telekom Srbija shares. Actors critical of this ownership have attempted to paint it as anti–European or anti–democratic and characterize media regulations as “leading Serbia away from the EU path,” despite similar media structures in EU member countries.
To address these concerns levied at the EMF, the EU launched the European Media Ownership Monitor in March 2023 to enhance media ownership transparency in European countries. This mechanism shines a light on how this ownership is being used to ensure media freedom, addressing issues of control, influence, and dissemination. Serbia, despite not yet being an EU member, is pursuing its own mechanisms to ensure transparency.
Corporations, be it private or publicly owned, should do what they can in practice to facilitate, ensure, and safeguard editorial independence and media freedoms. In the case of Telekom Srbija, the flagship news channel, Euronews Serbia, is subjected to regular audits by the highly renowned Osservatorio di Pavia (OdP), which performs regular audits for the Italian state and has partnerships with Harvard University, Amnesty International, and the European Commission, to name a few.
In addition to working with independent auditors, it is incredibly vital that Serbia develop the policies to implement the other elements of its new law to ensure media transparency. The European Commission’s Serbia 2023 Report outlined this media agenda for Serbia, which includes addressing concerns about threats, intimidation, hate speech, and violence against journalists; places limits on coverage of ongoing criminal proceedings; and clarifies rules governing anti–trust, mergers, and countering foreign information manipulation; among others. This is the agenda Telekom Srbija and media outlets throughout the Western Balkans must implement.
And while implementing media freedom laws will not ensure accession for Serbia and its Western Balkans neighbors, it will help create the media pluralism necessary to address thornier issues, such as the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Just recently, Telekom Srbija’s licenses came under attack in Northern Kosovo. The revocation of this media license would lead to less, not more media freedom, in the Western Balkans, and contribute to inflaming the broader issues that drive or undermine the region’s EU integration.
There is certainly more to accomplish if Serbia and the Western Balkans are to join the EU—including implementation of the laws as outlined by the European Commission. However, the process by which Serbia’s media laws were drafted, negotiated, and passed in collaboration with the EU Commission represent not only a major step forward for media freedom in the country and fulfills a requirement for EU accession, but is a significant step on the path to build a more open, democratic, and pluralistic Serbian society.
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Serbia, the EU, and the path to greater media freedom
EU–commission building "Berlaymont" in Brussels, Belgium. Image by Christian Lue from Unsplash.
April 24, 2024
Serbia and other Western Balkans countries navigate the significant problem of media freedom as they seek EU accession. While Serbia is working to harmonize their legal frameworks with those of the EU and has recently passed new media laws, state ownership remains an issue, writes Vladimir Lucic.
M
edia freedom is a key pillar of democratic societies. As the countries of the Western Balkans ready themselves for European Union (EU) accession, media freedom is one issue within the larger accession process that has come under increasing scrutiny to ensure independent voices are sufficiently represented, and access is widely distributed among diverse populations. Working hand–in–hand with the EU Commission, new laws and regulations have been developed for the Western Balkans to harmonize their legal frameworks with those of the EU. In Serbia, new media laws were passed in late 2023 to align Serbia with the EU and provide a legal framework for greater media freedom and pluralism, which EU Commission President von der Leyen touted as “important reforms,” while also calling for effective implementation.
Serbia based its new media law on the September 2022 European Media Freedom (EMF) Act with the goals of ensuring that media and journalists are insulated from political interference, ownership is transparent for citizen media consumers, and disinformation is not allowed to proliferate. Those who operate in good faith in the media space in Serbia recognize how critically important it is to the European future of Serbia and the entire Western Balkans region to comply with EU laws and regulations regarding media ownership and to ensure content dissemination is free, fair, and diverse. And it is not simply Serbia that must act. All Western Balkans’ countries must adhere to the EU’s media freedom agenda regarding ownership transparency and good content stewardship.
However, one issue in the EMF that has come under fire in Serbia—as well as in the EU—is state ownership of media. Per the EMF, EU member states are allowed to possess majority ownership in national media conglomerates. In Serbia, as in Belgium and other European countries, the government holds a majority–stake in the country’s major telecommunication operator, owning 58.11 percent of Telekom Srbija shares. Actors critical of this ownership have attempted to paint it as anti–European or anti–democratic and characterize media regulations as “leading Serbia away from the EU path,” despite similar media structures in EU member countries.
To address these concerns levied at the EMF, the EU launched the European Media Ownership Monitor in March 2023 to enhance media ownership transparency in European countries. This mechanism shines a light on how this ownership is being used to ensure media freedom, addressing issues of control, influence, and dissemination. Serbia, despite not yet being an EU member, is pursuing its own mechanisms to ensure transparency.
Corporations, be it private or publicly owned, should do what they can in practice to facilitate, ensure, and safeguard editorial independence and media freedoms. In the case of Telekom Srbija, the flagship news channel, Euronews Serbia, is subjected to regular audits by the highly renowned Osservatorio di Pavia (OdP), which performs regular audits for the Italian state and has partnerships with Harvard University, Amnesty International, and the European Commission, to name a few.
In addition to working with independent auditors, it is incredibly vital that Serbia develop the policies to implement the other elements of its new law to ensure media transparency. The European Commission’s Serbia 2023 Report outlined this media agenda for Serbia, which includes addressing concerns about threats, intimidation, hate speech, and violence against journalists; places limits on coverage of ongoing criminal proceedings; and clarifies rules governing anti–trust, mergers, and countering foreign information manipulation; among others. This is the agenda Telekom Srbija and media outlets throughout the Western Balkans must implement.
And while implementing media freedom laws will not ensure accession for Serbia and its Western Balkans neighbors, it will help create the media pluralism necessary to address thornier issues, such as the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. Just recently, Telekom Srbija’s licenses came under attack in Northern Kosovo. The revocation of this media license would lead to less, not more media freedom, in the Western Balkans, and contribute to inflaming the broader issues that drive or undermine the region’s EU integration.
There is certainly more to accomplish if Serbia and the Western Balkans are to join the EU—including implementation of the laws as outlined by the European Commission. However, the process by which Serbia’s media laws were drafted, negotiated, and passed in collaboration with the EU Commission represent not only a major step forward for media freedom in the country and fulfills a requirement for EU accession, but is a significant step on the path to build a more open, democratic, and pluralistic Serbian society.
