The South East Europe Media Organisation condemns the incidents that occurred during a press conference organized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), where journalists and media were subjected to political pressure and verbal insults.
During the press conference held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 25 April 2024, a high level representative of the ministry allegedly publicly targeted several journalists and media outlets, accusing them of being part of a “media-judicial mafia” without providing any evidence to support his claims.
Furthermore, the failure by this high level representative of the ministry to address media criticisms through legal and legitimate channels, such as seeking corrections or filing complaints with independent regulatory bodies, underscores his disregard for press freedom.
You can see the link to the press conference that was published by Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Radiotelevizija Bosne i Hercegovine – BHRT – https://www.bhrt.ba/): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cphCTEAC96U
The Board of Directors of the “BH Journalists” Association and the Helpline for Journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly condemn the inappropriate statements by this governmental representative.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) stands in solidarity with the journalists and media in Bosnia and Herzegovina targeted by high level governmental representative. Every attack on journalists undermines democracy and the public’s right to information, and it must be unequivocally condemned and addressed.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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