"Censorship, self-censorship, pressure on media"

"Censorship, self-censorship, pressure on media"

BELGRADE -- Freedom of the media in Serbia is facing serious problems, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia Paula Thiede has said.

This official took part in B92 TV's "Impression of the Week" talk show late on Sunday, when she noted that she expected the situation to "soon change for the better."

"We work within our mandate to strengthen media freedom and in this regard we work with the government of Serbia, as well as with non-governmental organizations and journalists' associations. The government has pledged to adopt three important pieces of legislation, and I expect that we will soon see an improvement in media freedom," Thiede stated.

She also said that the organization will not apologize to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and that there were "problems with the media" in Serbia.

"Nobody asked us to apologize, nor we can offer something like that," she said.

Last week, Vučić sent a letter to the OSCE demanding either an apology or proof that the government was imposing censorship on the media.

Thiede further said that she could not speak on behalf of Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, who criticized the Serbian government for "pressuring the media."

"I believe that Dunja Mijatović and Prime Minister Vučić resolved it in a constructive conversation," said Thiede.

Ljiljana Smajlović, president of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and editor-in chief of the daily Politika, criticized the OSCE for not reacting several years ago, when the government then in office adopted a controversial law on information.

"As far as censorship is...