The Council of Europe Office in Pristina, in the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe joint action on “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media (JUFREX2)” and "Reinforcing the fight against violence against women and domestic violence - Phase II" organised a roundtable discussion addressing issues related to protection and safety of journalists, with special emphasis to women journalists and risks to violence against women.

The event also marks the “16 days of activism against gender-based violence”, thus raising awareness on important role of media for preventing violence against women and domestic violence.

Around 50 participants attended the online roundtable including the media representatives, journalists, diplomatic embassies in Kosovo*, international organisations, NGOs, representatives of the Judiciary, Government and local institutions.

The roundtable was presented through a panel discussion including panellists from independent experts in the field of Freedom of Expression, protection and safety of journalists, with focus on women journalists, members of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo as well as the Chief State Prosecutor Office.

The roundtable discussions provided a great opportunity for the participants to discuss and share main concerns such as gendered threats against women and men journalists, censorship, intimidation as well as physical and psychological attacks, gender stereotypes and gender equality principles, perspective on effects of cyber bullying with a special focus on women journalists. In addition, the current local situation on safety of journalists and impunity with focus on women journalist was presented and discussed upon. Representative of Association of Journalists of Kosovo presented the current statistics of threats and attacks against journalists with focus on women journalists, and the mechanisms in place of safety of journalists and Cooperation with different regional and international platforms on safety of journalists AGK.

Furthermore, the role of Media reporting on violence against women and domestic violence – challenges and opportunities were discussed and elaborated as part of the presentation covering the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention standards.

The representative from the Chief State Prosecutor Office highlighted the role of prosecution in protecting and investigating cases related to safety of journalist, the measures undertaken to establish a system for treating the cases of physical and verbal attacks against journalists and the number of cases the Prosecution is dealing with .

The general perception highlighted at the roundtable regarding the current state of play in the area of freedom of expression and safety of journalists is that Kosovo has a very good legislative framework in place, however freedom of expression and the independence of media remain challenge and a key priority for the relevant institutions to address such challenges and implement the legal mechanisms in force. Moreover, an independent media landscape is the best indicator for a democratic and pluralistic society, thus enabling qualitative journalism and free flow of information to general public.

This action on “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media (JUFREX2)” is part of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II”, a co-operation initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, which aims at assisting Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans region and Turkey to comply with the Council of Europe standards and European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process, where relevant.

 

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