The European Union and the Council of Europe continued their strategic efforts to promote the safety of journalists in Montenegro through the action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro” (JUFREX).

In parallel to comprehensive training programme with judges and prosecutors, the action facilitated the development of two key documents, containing the set of practical guidelines for police officers and media outlets on the mitigation of risks for the journalists.

The Police Directorate finalised the Risk Assessment Guidelines for Police on Protecting the Journalists, which have been developed with Council of Europe expert support. The Guidelines will be integrated as the standard police procedure, and thus contribute to the increased awareness for the police officers of the European standards in the field of freedom of expression and protection of journalists. The document also defines the set of preventive mechanisms, which would improve police communication with media outlets and increase the protection of journalists, especially those who report on sensitive socio-political topics.

In addition to the support provided to the police, the action finalised Draft Risk assessment guidelines for media outlets devised with the Media Trade Union, which contain a set of concrete measures that media outlets need to continuously apply in order to track and address the risks journalists are facing in the line of their work. These guidelines entail procedures such as planning, exchange of information and co-ordination within the media and with the external partners from legal, civil, public and judicial sector.

The European Union and Council of Europe will continue supporting the police and media partners in further actions to address the issue of the safety of journalists during the next phase of the action, that will start in January 2023, especially in terms of convergence of these two important documents, support to their implementation and the co-operation between the police and media.

The action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro – JUFREX 2” is implemented under the Joint European Union and the Council of Europe Programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".