How Media Freedom Is Disappearing in the Balkans

As the Balkan countries progress towards Europe at different stages of the accession process, media freedom and journalists’ lives in the region are increasingly at risk. Authoritarian political culture, weak institutions, government abuse, and an unfavorable economic environment are among the main culprits for this worrying trend. But how much of this decline is also owed to the lack of willingness by the EU to seriously engage the Western Balkans on media freedom?

During the 1990s, the Open Society Foundations, among other international donors, heavily supported independent media throughout the Balkans, which sprang up during some of the most taxing times of war. Today, the majority of these media houses have either shut down, are about to be closed, or have been sold to companies in Greece, Germany, or elsewhere.

Even more alarmingly, some media outlets which had been central in promoting freedom of speech are directly in the service of new authoritarian leaders throughout the region. Unfortunately, the erosion of the free media is a trend happening elsewhere nearby—in Turkey as well as in neighboring Balkan countries already in the EU like Hungary and Italy.

At a recent talk, journalist and activist Milka Tadic Mijovic addressed the current state of media freedom in the Balkans. Listen to the audio above.