Journalists from EU are interested in fight against corruption in Serbia

Journalists from the European Union member states are interested in the results of the fight against corruption, pressures on media and election process irregularities in Serbia. These were the main topic of discussion between the representatives of civil society from Serbia and journalists from eleven EU member states, held in Media Centre Belgrade on April 25.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) Researcher and Coordinator of the regional POINTPULSE network Sasa Djordjevic stated during the meeting that public opinion polls show that majority of the citizens in the region consider that there is a high-level perception of corruption and that there is a need to include civil society in the fight against this phenomenon.

The BCSP’s Communication Officer Radomir Cvetkovic pointed out that there are various types and tactics of attacks directed towards civil society and their activists that publicly criticize the work of state institutions.

From Serbia participants were Transparency Serbia, which together with BCSP and other members of coalition prEUgovor reports every six months on Serbia’s progress in Chapters 23 and 24 of the acquis, Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights YUCOM, Civic Initiatives, Slavko Curuvija Foundation, Independent Journalist Association of Serbia and Independent Association of Vojvodina Journalists.

This visit was organized by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Serbia, in cooperation with European Journalism Centre within the program of Directorate-General of the European Commission for neighborhood policy and enlargement negotiations (DG NEAR). During the three-day study visit, the group of 15 journalists conducted meetings with representatives of state institutions, civil and business sector.