OSCE Chairman-in-Office condemns new Serbian law on information

WARSAW, 27 October 1998 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, today expressed his profound concern about the further violation of OSCE and European standards by the Serbian Parliament which adopted a draconian law on information on 20 October.

Mr. Geremek condemned, in the strongest terms, this law which creates severe fines on media outlets which carry foreign programming and which fail to publish information that the FRY authorities deem important. He called for an end to censorship practices which are in contradiction to OSCE decisions [principles] and which contribute to the deterioration of the atmosphere of political dialogue in Kosovo.

Mr. Geremek asked the OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media, Mr. Freimut Duve, to pursue this matter.