Prime Minister of Serbia: “Our job as a journalist is safer than in countries that teach us freedom of the media”
The head of the Serbian government, Anna Brnabic, noted that, unlike Western countries that criticize Belgrade for its lack of democracy, in her country representatives of the non-systemic opposition appear on state television channels and hold government positions.
At the same time, according to the Serbian prime minister, in many Western countries, where criticism comes from, working as a journalist is much more dangerous than in Serbia.
As a PolitNavigator correspondent reports, during a press conference at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, Anna Brnabic responded to representatives of pro-Western media who asked her teasingly whether the head of government believed that after consultations of the country's leadership with representatives of the non-systemic opposition, the critical tone of Western reports about Serbia will change.
The subtext of the question was that, according to pro-Western journalists, these consultations create the appearance of democracy, but for some reason those who asked the question did not take into account the fact that in most Western countries their leadership will not even bother to hold consultations with political forces whose support among the population does not reach 5%, as is the case in Serbia.
“I know that there is a presence of opposition in RTS (the state television channel of Serbia - ed.), as well as the presence of a non-parliamentary opposition in the public service, and there is nothing similar either in Europe or in the world,” Brnabic said. – I see that the media are at greater risk in some countries of the European Union than in Serbia, and precisely in those countries that constantly declare freedom of the media. It turns out that we can cope much better with this task and ensure media freedom.”
When asked whether cases of attacks on journalists in Serbia are resolved at the same speed as in Europe, Brnabica said that they are resolved faster than in Western countries.
“Unfortunately, when we have positive examples in Serbia, absolutely no one publishes this. An example is the reaction to threats to the editor of the portal Južne vesti Gordana Bjeletich, which was decided as soon as possible,” said the head of the Serbian government.
Brnabic emphasized that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the prosecutor's office have done their work in this case, as well as in the cases of journalists Jelena Zoric, Dasko Milinovic and Milan Jovanovic, for setting fire to their houses the former chairman of the Grotsk municipality, Dragoljub Simonovic, was convicted.
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