AGK: Journalists' security continues to be fragile

The Association of Kosovo Journalists (AGK) has held a discussion table where it presented the latest findings from monitoring hate speech in the media and indicators for media freedom and journalists' safety in Kosovo, reports Online Economy.

Xhemajl Rexha, chairman of the AGK Board, stressed that journalists' security remains fragile, with an increase in cases of attacks and pressures especially during election campaigns. He stressed that the report includes the April-June 2025 period for the first time and has been drafted in co-operation with UNMIK.

Over the course of the year, we monitor cases of attacks on journalists to come to the conclusion at which level media freedom is respected and how journalists' safety is. For the first time, a monitoring report for April-June 2025 periods on hate speech in Kosovo media, Albanian and Serbian media reports in co-operation with UNMIK. In general, journalists' security continues to be fragile, journalists in Kosovo continue to be attacked in various forms. The findings are 2024 when journalists' attacks have continued. The number of cases has continued to rise year-on-year, interventions in journalists' work are different. Pressures in various forms of attacks on journalists even at the end of 2024 and early 2025, especially at the time of the election campaign, have been added by various actors, mainly by the ruling political party VV of past”, Xhema stressed.

Meanwhile, AGK's legal official, Yll Zeqaj, said the legal framework in Kosovo is in line with international standards, but the main challenge remains equal implementation and delays.

He underlined the lack of provisions that enable early identification and removal of unbased indictments against journalists.

This report, like other years' reports, has shown that journalism in Kosovo does not lack a legal framework; it meets international standards. Freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo through direct implementation of the Convention for Human Rights. Our courts, in any case when we have cases of slander or introduction, directly apply the European Court for Human Rights. This guarantees that journalism has a solid framework, based on international standards respectively. What has been characterised in this report is the lack of application of this legal framework, sometimes with delays and sometimes selectively. Although civil law against slander and insult meets international standards, because the same allows freedom of expression, there is still no provision in which we can make an early prevention or drop early lawsuits the provision that does not exist in such a law, where indictments are earlier identified. ”, Zekij added./Periscopi/