PM and NGOs disagree on range of issues

PM and NGOs disagree on range of issues

BELGRADE -- NGO representatives who met with Aleksandar Vucic on Monday say the differences between them remain when it comes to media, the rule of law, and the ombudsman.

Representative of the NGO network Human Rights House Dragan Popovic said that the meeting on Monday with the prime minister was "open," but that they disagreed over the state of the press freedom, the rule of law and the stance towards Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic.

"We expressed our concerns regarding the rule of law, especially in the entire case with Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic. The prime minister said that he has a different stance, but he took note of everything we said," Popovic told the Beta agency.

He added that Vucic "does not think this is about an organized campaign against the ombudsman" and that others have the right to ask Jankovic questions - while representatives of civil society said that the events represented "abuse of records from the past in order to defame the institution of the ombudsman."

According to Popovic, the situation in the media was also a topic, but "our views have not been reconciled there, either."

"The prime minister says he does not control the media. We believe that the situation in the media is not good and that the executive authority bears a good part of the responsibility for that," said Popovic, who is director of the Practical Policy Center, one of the founders of the Human Rights House.

He stressed that the group's representatives "insisted that the state and civil society collaborate better and more often," and that Vucic "announced he will soon organize such discussions with other NGOs as well."

The government said in a statement on Monday that Vucic...