The importance of regional co-operation, synergies among Beneficiary-specific actions and regional exchanges in finding solutions and responses vis-à-vis common challenges in the field of freedom of expression and the media were highlighted at the Second Steering Committee Meeting of the joint European Union and Council of Europe action “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in South-East Europe (JUFREX 2)”. The meeting brought together representatives of the European Commission (DG NEAR and EU Delegations and Offices in the Region), Council of Europe, representatives of Judicial Academies, Bar Associations, Media Regulatory Authorities and Universities from the Western Balkans. It enabled participants to take stock of results and lessons learnt in 2021 and steer work for 2022, through the lens of beneficiaries’ experience and assessment.
The significance of the Regional Action and its nexus with Beneficiary-specific JUFREX actions (in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) is particularly demonstrated through the feedback received on the use and impact at the local level of policy and legal analysis and training materials and capacities developed under the action. In this context, participants highlighted the importance and relevance of regional events and activities in enabling platforms for discussion and exchange among peers in the region on the implementation of relevant standards and in devising responses to new challenges and trends in the field of freedom of expression and the media.
JUFREX 2 is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II (2019-2022)”, that supports the Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, including where relevant within the framework of the EU enlargement process.
*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.