LAJCAK CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON MEDIA FREEDOM IN BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (April 26,2008) – The International Community's High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia,yesterday,strongly condemned all attacks on the freedom and the independence of media in Bosnia.

“Freedom of the media is a key freedom for all member states of the European Union, and the EU monitors very closely the quality and the situation in this area in each country that wishes to join the European Union one day. Rest assured that not a single attack on media freedom will go unnoticed in the European Union”, Lajčák said in a video message published on the website http://www.reci.ba in response to a question about threats to media freedom in Bosnia.

“If we want to build a functional democratic state, then we must not tolerate attacks against the independence of the media. There are institutions that must do their job. In our case, this would be the Regulatory Agency for Communications. The state institutions also need to meet their commitments. Politicians should say that there cannot be any tolerance of attacks against the media, since they are responsible for the prevailing atmosphere in a society,” Lajčák said.

He recalled that the EU did not by accident set public broadcasting reform as a condition for further progress in the EU integration process, stressing that it is essential to create “a functional, objective, independent and democratic system of public broadcasting, which will not serve or be abused for biased party or other interests, and which will inform citizens in an objective manner.”
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