She stressed that the OSCE Office for the Media is at the National Assembly’s full disposal. Reminding of the fact that Serbia will chair the OSCE in 2015, Ms. Mijatovic deemed that there is enough time to set priorities, at the same time stressing that freedom of the media has been one of the OSCE’s priorities in the last three years.
The National Assembly Speaker extended gratitude for the offer of help, saying that all help is welcome for Serbia which wishes to reach international standards, particularly in the sphere of the media. Stefanovic drew attention that one of the problems Serbia faces when it comes to the media are unclear ownership relations and deemed that the media laws are bad. According to Stefanovic, the goal is to set standards which would prevent the media from being the political newsletters of certain political parties as they have been so far, and the media being funded by the government i.e. certain ministries. We who have experienced media persecution should make sure that it never happens again – concluded Stefanovic.
The National Assembly Speaker presented the plans for parliamentary transparency to the guests, primarily as regards the openness of the work of the assembly’s itself and its committees, i.e. a better connection between the parliament and the public.
Ms. Mijatovic emphasised the need to decriminalize libel and expressed pleasure at the fact that the President of the Republic, Tomislav Nikolic, pardoned a journalist sentenced for libel. Such signals, as well as possibly transferring libel into the sphere of misdemeanors, would definitely recommend Serbia to the European Union and the OSCE.
Having been informed that the Cabinet of the President of the Republic has launched an initiative to form a working group to work on new legislation on the media, Ms. Mijatovic offered the assistance of the OSCE Office on Freedom of the Media, which the National Assembly Speaker was pleased to accept, in his capacity.