By The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) at the meeting in Pristina on May 23rd and 24th adopted a resolution supporting the networking of media workers’ unions from the Balkan region.
The initiative was presented by the Journalists’ Union of Serbia, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers of North Macedonia, the Journalists’ Union of Croatia, and the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro.
The initiative entails strengthening the role of unions in the media sector in the region, enhancing their cooperation, exchanging experiences and best practices, as well as initiating joint initiatives and activities.
“Faced with the fact that the Western Balkans and Turkey are regions where media freedoms are threatened to a higher degree than in Western Europe: the establishment of unions in private media is still prohibited; media owners refuse social dialogue on uniform working conditions; there are arrests and increased pressure on the safety of journalists, endangerment of information sources, spyware, endangering data secrecy…,” the initiative states.
Therefore, the initiators believe it is essential for unions to unite and thus increase the effectiveness of their efforts. The EFJ Secretariat has committed to first encouraging the signing of memorandum of cooperation among unions in the region and further supporting the activities of the future network in the upcoming period.
