Dunja Mijatovic

Serbia faces accusations of media censorship

The Serbian government is facing criticism over the lack of media freedom in the country.

Serbia is facing criticism from international organisations amid accusations that officials are censoring media outlets that were critical of the government's response to last month's historic flooding.

During his first official visit to Germany on Wednesday, Prime Minister Vucic said that recent allegations of censorship in the Serbian media were false.

"Censorship, self-censorship, pressure on media"

BELGRADE -- Freedom of the media in Serbia is facing serious problems, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia Paula Thiede has said.

This official took part in B92 TV's "Impression of the Week" talk show late on Sunday, when she noted that she expected the situation to "soon change for the better."

The European Federation of Journalists, EFJ, has called on the Serbian government to respect freedom of the press and allow journalists to publish information freely about the floods that hit the country in mid-May.

Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE press freedom envoy, has condemned a series of ongoing attacks on the OSCE website coming from unknown hackers, which she said were engaged in censoring the organisation.

“On-going DDos attack on OSCE website unacceptable, forces set in motion trying to limit freedom of expression,” she tweeted on Wednesday.

EC "watching closely media situation in Serbia"

BRUSSELS -- The EC is watching closely the media situation in Serbia, and is in constant contact with the authorities, ombudsman and representatives of the civil society,

This is according to Peter Stano, spokesman for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule, who spoke in Brussels on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS - The European Commission is watching closely the media situation in Serbia, and is in constant contact with the authorities, ombudsman and representatives of the civil society, Peter Stano, spokesman for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, said in Brussels on Tuesday.

Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE’s media representative, said on Monday that she had spoken to Vucic and had been assured that the Serbian premier would act on the issue despite his demand for apologies for the allegations of censorship against his government.

BELGRADE - Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic requested on Monday that OSCE representative for media freedom Dunja Mijatovic apologise for her claims of censorship in Serbia.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has called on Ukraine to release two Russian reporters who were detained on Sunday.

The OSCE's representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatovic, has urged Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov to release the Russian reporters who were captured on Sunday, ITAR-TASS reported.