Back Journalists and experts join forces in Belgrade to safeguard free media

Belgrade 1 October 2025
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Journalists and experts join forces in Belgrade to safeguard free media

Journalists, researchers, policymakers and representatives of international organisations gathered in Belgrade to tackle growing threats to freedom of expression in the Western Balkans and beyond. The two-day conference provided a platform to share experiences, develop solutions, and strengthen safeguards for independent journalism.

Opening the conference, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Janos Babity highlighted that the safety of journalists is not a sectoral issue, but a democratic imperative.

“By protecting free media, we protect the rights of all citizens. This conference gives us the opportunity to understand the challenges together, listen to journalists on the ground, and translate standards into solutions,” Babity said.

A dedicated panel on Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) brought together legal experts to examine legal responses and European standards. Discussions analysed the Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2024)2 on countering SLAPPs, and experience of SLAPP victims, judges and journalists with such cases.

The Conference was co-organised with the SafeJournalist Network through the action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Serbia (PROFREX)”, implemented by the Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression under the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

Horizontal Facility III

The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III) is a co-operation initiative, running from 2023 until 2026. The programme covers actions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. It enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European
standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process. 

The envelope of this facility amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the EU, 15% by the CoE).

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.