World Press Freedom Day: Media freedom in Croatia has improved

ZAGREB, 2 May 2001 - Freedom of expression in Croatia has improved and obstacles to freedom of the press have lessened but more can be done to improve the media situation in Croatia, said the Head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Bernard Poncet, in a statement issued on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, 3 May.

"The atmosphere for the work of free media has certainly improved in Croatia over the last 15 months; now there is a need to further improve the existing legal framework to ensure that this trend is not reversed," said Poncet.

Croatia's key commitment remains to transform its state broadcaster into a genuine public broadcaster and to amend its Law on Telecommunication to ensure that both the public and private broadcasters are completely free of political control.

Compared to the 1990s, cases of hate speech in Croatia have considerably lessened but not entirely disappeared. The Mission is convinced that Croatia's citizens are less and less prepared to accept such forms of intolerance.

Freedom and responsibility are inseparable concepts in the work of the media. Provided the highest level of freedom is ensured, media can serve as the conscience of the nation and strengthen civil society and the rule of law.

For more information, please contact Alessandro Fracassetti, Spokesperson, OSCE Mission to Croatia, Florijana Andraseca 14, 10 000 Zagreb, tel.: +385 1 3096 620, fax: + 385 1 3096 297, e-mail: osce-croatia@oscecro.org