Hahn warns Montenegro after journalist wound

Montenegro's membership process in the European Union will not mark steps forward on the issue of protecting journalists and press freedom, European Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn warned today.

Specialised in criminal cases, journalist Olivera Lakic, 49, was shot in the leg with firearms by an unknown person in her home in Podgorica. This aggression is the last of a long series of acts, yet with no author, the ATSH writes.

If there is no progress on these issues, then Montenegro's European perspective” would naturally be hampered, Johannes Hahn said, during a visit to this small Balkan state, where he met with journalist Olivera Lakic.

The aggression exercised against the journalist is clearly an attack on media freedom, he warned. This is unacceptable to us. This act certainly affects the reputation of the land.

Hahn demanded that the authors be found, but also their supporters, the people behind them, be brought to justice.