Podgorica, (MINA) – Independent and professional media are the requirement for good public debate, narrowing space for biased information that shape negatively the perception among the people about the EU, said Head of EU Delegation in Podgorica Aivo Orav.
He said that communicating the EU integration process in the Western Balkans is a challenging task, considering the complexity of the integration process and disinformation that increasingly interfering with the communication efforts.
According to him, some of negative stories about the EU are that it is declining, that it is not interested in the region and they are meant to oppose positive stories about the EU and concrete advantages of the rule of law, media freedom, better education and health system.
Orav said that the last year’s European Commission’s Western Balkans strategy outlined the responsibility of the governments of the region to communicate the EU integration process and the assistance they receive from the EU.
“Independent and professional media are the requirement for fair and well informed public debates, which narrow the space for biased information and accompanying personalities that negatively shape the perception about the EU”, said Orav.
In terms of that, he added, independence of public electronic media and media freedoms are of the highest importance for the EU, and one of the key political criteria for the EU accession.
Orav remarked that public broadcasters should be the driving force behind democratization of the society and their full independence should be supported.
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