After Dragan Šolak and Viktorija Boklag were dismissed from their leading positions, the editors within the United Media company addressed the European public with an appeal in which they express concern for the future of independent journalism in the Balkans. They warn that this change could open the door to political influence in one of the last bastions of free media in the region.
Employees of the United Group company were informed late Monday evening that the founder and the chairman of the Advisory Board, Dragan Šolak, as well as the executive director, Viktorija Bocklag, were dismissed from their positions. In their place, Stan Miller and Libor Voncina were appointed as the new executive director and his deputy. In an internal letter, employees were told that "everything is working as before in all markets."
Change at the top of United Group: Dragan Šolak is no longer the chairman of the Advisory Board
However, shortly after the publication of this news, the editors of several media operating within United Media - among them N1, Nova.rs, Danas and Vijesti - made a public appeal to the international community, including the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Parliament, as well as organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the European Federation of Journalists.
In the appeal, entitled "Request for the Protection of Independent Journalism in Southeast Europe", serious concern was expressed that the decision of the majority shareholder BC Partners to remove Scholak and Bocklag - and that without a public explanation - could open the door to political pressure and editorial interference in the work of newsrooms.
"Mr. Šolak was a principled advocate of independent journalism in the Balkans and provided protection to newsrooms in an environment of constant political attacks," the letter states.
"We are concerned that their removal could mean opening up space for influence by governments and interest groups hostile to media freedom," it added.
The editors demand that BC Partners publicly guarantee the preservation of editorial independence and refrain from personnel moves that could threaten it. They also call on European institutions to monitor the situation and react in order to preserve, as they state, "one of the last free and professional journalistic platforms in the region."
Among the signatories of the appeal were editors and program directors of all major media within United Media: Igor Božić (N1 Serbia), Tihomir Ladišić (N1 Croatia), Amir Zukić (N1 Bosnia and Herzegovina), Katja Šeruga (N1 Slovenia), Slobodan Georgiev (Nova Serbia), Mihailo Jovićević (Nova.rs), Ranko Pivljanin (daily newspaper Nova), Dragoljub Petrović (Danas), Vesna Mališić (Radar), Marta Evtimova (Nova Broadcasting Group), Jelena Ćorluka (Nova M), Mihailo Jovović (Vijesti, Montenegro) and Radomir Kračković (TV Vijesti).
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