The Central Election Commission of Kosovo (CEC) refused to accredit Serbian media from both Belgrade and Kosovo for local elections. The appeal of the European Union and the OSCE did not help either
Three days before local elections The Central Election Commission of Kosovo (CEC) refused accreditation to all Serbian media from both Belgrade and Kosovo. Among others, the following are not accredited: RTS, RTV, Tanjug, Nova.rs, Danas, Alternativna, Kontakt plus, Radio KiM, Kosovo online and others. You can find a list of media that are not accredited on this link.
Why the Serbian media are not accredited was not explained in the announcement of the CEC, which some journalists unsuccessfully tried to contact.
Only a few hours after that announcement, on October 9 around ten o'clock in the evening, the journalists received an email with the Decision on the rejection of accreditation.
It said that after the check, it was established that certain media meet the legally prescribed criteria for accreditation, but that CEC members expressed doubts about the "authenticity of the presented media, including the origin and legitimacy of the submitted accreditation."
How did it all begin?
Since the majority of Serbian local media in Kosovo is registered as a non-governmental organization, that was the first reason why the CEC refused the accreditation of certain journalists. They concluded that on the basis of the submitted media registration document. However, the submission of that document should have been optional, as it was written in the application form. The reality for some journalists was different: that optional field did not work, so some media were forced to physically deliver that document.
Serbian journalists from the north of Kosovo who could have accredited themselves as media from Belgrade, trying to avoid the problem of media registration in Kosovo, gave it up and decided to accredit themselves as local media.
The reason for this is that they were advised by "reliable sources" to send the accreditation as a local media regardless of the fact that they are registered as an NGO, because the CEC "because of the way it thinks" will reject the accreditation of media from Belgrade.
After they were denied accreditation, some Serbian journalists turned to representatives of the European Union, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, election observers and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) with the desire to exercise their right to professionally perform journalistic work.
After their reaction, the problem was supposedly solved, and the process was started. The requested information has been provided.
However, three days before the elections, the CEC decided not to accredit Serbian media.
The President of the Association of Serbian Journalists in Kosovo, journalist from North Mitrovica Ivana Vanovac, said that she expects the CEC's decision to be changed, reports Alternativna.
"If that doesn't happen, then all journalists working in the Serbian media have the right to stand before the CEC and ask what they plan to do on Sunday, October 12, that is, what will happen at the polling stations that the Serbian community should not be informed about," emphasized Vanovac.
She also said that the list of media rejected for accreditation, which includes the majority of media reporting in the Serbian language, indicates that accreditation was rejected on the basis of national discrimination.
"Accreditation is actually a process designed so that you register that you are there, for the sake of records. It is not a license, so that someone approves or disapproves of us or assesses our credibility for that day. This is a scandal, I do not remember something like this happening in a democratic society, at least not in a society where there are democratic laws that protect the freedom of the media, that protect the citizens' right to information in their native language," Vanovac added.
She explained that after the publication of the list on the CEC website, they informed the president of the European Federation of Journalists, Maja Sever, about everything, and that they will contact all the instances that they believe should do something in this situation and that are obliged by their mandates to act at this moment and to ensure freedom of expression, media, reporting in the mother tongue for the Serbian community in the area of Kosovo.
The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) has expressed deep concern over the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) not to accredit any Serbian-language media to report on the local elections on October 12, stating that this decision is unprecedented, and that from the members' discussions at the CEC session, it appears that the rejection is of a "political and ethnic nature."
"The association considers this decision unacceptable and contrary to the democratic values of Kosovo and the freedom of the media in the country. Media in the Serbian language in Kosovo are registered with the Agency for the Registration of Enterprises or with the MBP as a non-governmental organization," according to a statement published on Facebook.
As it is added, the citizens of Kosovo of Serb nationality have the constitutional right to be informed about such an important process in their own language, the official language throughout Kosovo.
The maintenance of the Kosovo media encourages the rejected media to immediately appeal the decision to the IPŽP, and that institution to urgently solve and cancel the decision of the CEC.
The OEBS mission in Kosovo expressed deep disappointment over the decision of some members of the Central Election Commission to abstain or vote against the request for accreditation submitted by Serbian-language media.
The German Embassy in Kosovo announced that it fully supports the position of the OSCE Mission, and that all relevant institutions must ensure equal treatment of all media and consistently respect the principles of media freedom and non-discrimination.
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