Media freedom declines worldwide, including Serbia

PARIS - Serbia ranks as 67th out of 180 countries ranked according to the Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in the annual evaluation released on Thursday, stressing that media freedom suffered a "drastic decline" worldwide last year.

In the Balkans, Serbia - which stood at No. 54 in the last year's list - now ranks behind Croatia (58) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (66), and ahead of Albania (82), Montenegro (114) and Macedonia (117).

Media freedom declined in many western European countries as well. Italy slipped 24 places to 73 this year.

Russia is down to 152, and the United States ranks as 49, three spots lower than in the previous report.

The lowest-rated countries are Iran, China, Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, while northern European countries such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden take top spots in the RSF's list.

Photo Tanjug, M. Jelesijevic (illustration)