The new online platform which the Council of Europe prepared along with the European Federation of Journalists (EFN), Reporters without Borders and other international news organizations and through which European journalists can report any type of intimidation or assault, will be available to the Macedonian journalists as well, reminded EFN President Mogens Bjeregard Blücher for META.
Council of Europe signed a memorandum with the concerned associations on 4th of December, and the platform will start functioning in 2015.
Journalists will be able to report all verbal or physical assaults, intimidation attempts, threats against them or their sources to the domestic associations, which then will inform the Federation in Brussels, which in turn will regularly inform the Council of Europe on the situation in each member state.
For the Macedonian journalists, this specifically means that every assault, attempt to silence them, including public discrediting and labeling, and, of course, the most extreme cases, can be reported to the European organizations, explain representatives of EFN.
“The constant intimidation, threats and pressures over Macedonian journalists will soon be systematically recorded by the Council of Europe. The Federation will continue to demand the release of journalist Tomislav Kezharovski. From now on, our organization will register every violation of the rights of journalists. Macedonia cannot afford to be among the worst students in the continent in terms of freedom of the press,” stated EFN President for META.
This platform aims to improve safety and working conditions of European journalists and will serve as a tool for political pressure on those countries that violate the rights and freedoms of the press, an area in which Macedonia registers a continuous drop by all world rankings.
