Press freedom groups urge Kosovo government to take measures to protect journalists

Kosovo has plummeted in the latest press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The country fell 24 places, to 99th place, the largest drop among Western Balkan countries. The country moved from the "problematic" category to the "difficult" category, reaching its lowest score since RSF began assessing 180 countries.

“This deterioration is due to a general deterioration across the five indicators of the Index, with particularly marked declines in the political and socio-cultural domains,” explained Pavol Szalai, head of the EU-Balkans desk for RSF.

The organisation notes, for example, verbal attacks against the media by political leaders, sometimes accused of "collaborating with the enemy”; or a growing instrumentalisation of public institutions, notably the audiovisual regulator (IMC) and the public broadcaster.

“All of this adds up to persistent structural problems: insufficient access to information, abusive prosecutions against journalists (SLAPPs), and a lack of economic and institutional guarantees for independent journalism,” added Szalai.

The Kosovo Journalists' Association (AJK) also notes foreign interference from Serbia and Russia. “Surveys show that most of the Serbian population in Kosovo get their news from Serbian outlets, which are heavily influenced by Russian propaganda,” said Xhemajl Rexha, president of AJK. “Media outlets such as Sputnik and RT have their bases in Belgrade, and they spread misinformation and xenophobic language against Kosovo.”

Journalists under pressure

Pressure on journalists seems to have increased recently in Kosovo. The latest example is a recent incident in Goraždevac, where a Serbian-speaking journalist was aggressively arrested by police while covering an event on a public street. Journalists operate in very often difficult circumstances, and their physical safety is endangered, as it was in 2023 during unrest in northern Kosovo.

“As with many governments in the region, they want to control the public narrative of what happens in the country and minimise their wrongdoing being made public,” said Rexha. “This government exploits ethnic tensions in the country to portray any critic as working against the country, which is unacceptable and very dangerous. PM Kurti himself and ruling party MPs engage in daily smear campaigns against journalists, denigrating them and their work, because they don’t like the content of the reports.”

While Prime Minister Kurti remained silent, other officials in the outgoing administration and his party took to social media and the press, not to comment on the findings, but to attack the credibility of the media themselves. Government spokesman Përparim Kryeziu, in particular, asserted that the real problem lies not in political interference but in the alleged decline in professional standards among journalists.

Following RSF's index publication, intimidation campaigns against RSF representation were also carried out in the country. “Attacking RSF or local associations like the AGK distracts from the real problems facing media professionals,” said Szalai. “We deeply regret that some authorities choose to delegitimise criticism rather than respond to it with reforms.”

Actions requested to protect journalists

Organisations like RSF and AJK are calling on the Kosovo authorities to move from reaction to action by taking concrete measures to halt the deterioration of press freedom. “We want to be included from the beginning in drafting a new media law, which will take into consideration the needs of the media and keep the IMC an independent body, far from political interference,” explained Rexha.

RSF supports the AJK's proposal to create a working group on press freedom, including authorities, journalists, civil society, and international partners. This group would make it possible to jointly identify structural solutions: reform of the broadcasting regulator with genuine guarantees of independence, mechanisms to prevent SLAPPs, guarantees of transparent funding for public media, and training for law enforcement to prevent incidents like the one in Goraždevac from recurring.

“The government has the levers to act. This is not only in the interests of journalists but also in the interests of Kosovo's democratic commitment and its ambition for European integration,” said Szalai.

Source of the cover photo: generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, DALL·E