OSCE Mission to Skopje signs memorandum of understanding with the Association of Journalists

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, Ambassador Nina Suomalainen, and the President of the Association of Journalists (AJM) Naser Selmani signed today in Skopje a memorandum of understanding, which envisages the organization of a series of activities aiming to improve the safety of journalists and to promote freedom of the media.

“Today’s signing of the memorandum of understanding is very symbolic for our Mission as we will officially resume our work in the field of media freedom after a break of almost a decade,” said Ambassador Suomalainen. “I hope that our co-operation that starts officially from today will lead to a safer environment for journalists. As I read on one of the walls at  your Association premises, ‘freedom of the press is a GPS to democracy’”.

Selmani said that the AJM highly appreciates the contribution of the OSCE to the protection and promotion of freedom of speech in the country.

“We thank you for the sincere support and encouragement in dealing with the challenges we have had in the past period. We are happy to sign a memorandum of understanding today with you in order to deepen and intensify our future partnership.”

Under the agreement, the OSCE Mission to Skopje and AJM committed to working on improving the safety of journalists through the organization of a series of targeted activities, including workshops with representatives of the media and the police, training courses on the safety of journalists online, and events aimed at assisting police officers, legal practitioners, journalists and media workers to deal with media freedom issues.