POLITICO PRO: Media Freedom in the Balkans

By: Matthieu Pollet

The bloc’s brand-new media freedom law may not be enough to tackle the “invisible hand of media censorship” in the Balkans, according to t anew report from the Brussels-based NGO Balkan Free Media Initiative. “Murky, politically connected ownership of the media and state censorship could slip through the provisions of” the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the authors wrote, citing Bulgaria, Greece and Slovenia as a “harsh testing ground” for the regulation, which will enter into force next summer.

Moving the Needle: If policymakers really want to make a difference, “more stringent regulations, robust politicial commitment, and vigilant oversight,” the organization recommended. This includes ramping up the ownership transparency obligations, more internal safeguards to ensure the independence and integrity of newsrooms and a stronger role for the upcoming European board, to make up for the national regulators that are entrusted to enforce the rules buy may remain under political pressure from governments.