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European Union

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Council of Ministers Faces Criticism for Discriminatory Press Conference Treatment

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The Steering Board of the Association of BH Journalists and the Free Media Help Line (FMHL) have condemned the actions of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards journalists and media outlets, citing a recurring discriminatory practice of allowing only selected media to ask questions at press conferences. This practice culminated during visits from high-ranking European officials, including EU Commissioner Marta Kos and EC President Ursula von der Leyen. The representatives of the BH Journalists and FMHL consider this behavior a gross violation of the right to freedom of information and the free work of journalists.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been accused of discriminatory actions against journalists and media outlets, specifically allowing only selected media to ask questions at press conferences.
  • This practice has been recurring and was observed during visits from EU Commissioner Marta Kos and EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
  • The Steering Board of the Association of BH Journalists and FMHL hold Chairwoman Borjana KriA!to responsible for this violation of journalists' rights and consider it a gross breach of freedom of information.
  • The BH Journalists and FMHL demand guarantees from the Council of Ministers that other media and journalists will not be treated as second-class citizens.
  • The incident has sparked concerns about media freedom and journalists' rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • The local media was not allowed to ask Ursula von der Leyen about the drastic decline in media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which dropped by 23 places in the past two years.
  • The International Coalition for Media Freedom, freedom of expression, and journalists' organizations requested von der Leyen to raise the issue of media freedoms in talks with BiH leaders.
  • The BH Journalists publicly asked the Delegation of the European Union in BiH whether it could have prevented this incident and the public discrimination of media.

Statistics:

  • Media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina has dropped by 23 places in the past two years.
  • The selected media outlets allowed to ask questions during the press conferences with Marta Kos and Ursula von der Leyen.
  • The number of journalists from other media outlets denied the opportunity to ask questions during the same press conferences.

Sources:

  • "The Steering Board of the Association of BH Journalists and FMHL strongly condemned the discriminatory actions of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina..."

[1] Steering Board of BH Journalists and FMHL, "URGENT - Discriminatory Treatment of Journalists by Council of Ministers of BiH" (2023).

[2] EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, "Speech at the press conference in Sarajevo" (2023).

[3] EC President Ursula von der Leyen, "Speech at the press conference in Sarajevo" (2023).

[4] International Coalition for Media Freedom, "Joint Statement on Media Freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina" (2023).

Note: The date "2023" is used as it appears in the original text. However, please verify the exact date, if it exists, in the source material.

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