Ivana Jeremic, Author at BIRD

Concern over Moldova Cyber Security As Election Looms

Posted on October 28, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

As the campaign for Moldova’s presidential election intensifies, so too does the rate of cyberattacks on state institutions in the former Soviet republic, torn between Russia and the West.

But while Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service, SIS, says it is working to disrupt cyberattacks, critics say more needs to be done to confront the scourge of fake news and disinformation.

“Moldova does not have a strategy to tackle propaganda, nor clear policies for the protection of the information space,” said Cornelia Cozonac, head of the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Moldova.

“Moldovan politicians are not even trying to take over similar research-based guidelines from the Baltic States, for example.”

Individual hackers

In an interview for Moldpres, SIS director Alexandr Esaulenco said that election campaigns in Moldova frequently brought an “intensification” of cyberattacks on state bodies handling the electoral process.

In written comments to BIRN, the SIS described four types of attacks since 2015 – denial of service, or DDOS, phishing via state e-mail, brute-force attacks trying to gain access to government information systems and the hijacking of official web pages.

“These activities aim to stop or hinder the conduct of the electoral process, but in all these cases, we act proactively to prevent their success,” Esaulenco told Moldpres.

In an interview with tribuna.md in October, Sergiu Popovici, the director of the government Information Technology and Cyber Security Service, STISC, said most attacks were the work of individual hackers, “who try out their criminal talent on randomly selected electoral processes.”

‘Real propaganda’

Esaulenco, a 43-year-old major general, previously worked as a security adviser to Moldova’s pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon.

A person scrolls the screen of a mobile phone while loading information on how to counter ‘fake news’ in New Delhi, India, May 2, 2019. Photo: EPA/Harish Tyagi

Dodon is bidding for a second term in next month’s election but faces a strong challenge from pro-European candidate Maia Sandu.

The SIS press office told BIRN that, while it confronts the threat of cyberattacks, its future focus would be more on disinformation and propaganda.

Torn between integrating with the West or remaining in Russia’s orbit, Moldova has proven particularly vulnerable to outside propaganda, particularly against NATO, the European Union and the international community in general.

The SIS said that during the COVID-19 state-of-emergency in the spring, it closed some 61 websites and news portals deemed to be spreading propaganda and fake news regarding the pandemic.

But Petru Macovei, executive director of the Independent Press Association, API, said SIS did not go far enough.

“It was a facade with the closure of those sites, to justify themselves that their activity was not in vain during the state of emergency caused by the pandemic,” Macovei told BIRN. “Indeed, it was neither effective nor sufficient.”

These “were selective decisions,” he said, “because the real propaganda was not affected by that SIS measure.”

By ‘real propaganda,’ many experts in Moldova mean Russian media outlets that broadcast in Moldova with a distinctively anti-Western tone.

“Russian media in Moldova like Komsomolskaya Pravda or Sputnik every day have at least one anti-EU and NATO news and some about Ukraine,” said Cozonac.

Strategy lacking

Elena Marzac, executive director of the Information and Documentation Centre on NATO, IDC NATO, said that COVID-19 crisis and the economic fallout were “gradually turning into a security crisis.”

The executive director of the IDC NATO in Moldova, Elena Marzac. Photo: Facebook

“Besides classic disinformation there are also the cyberattacks, both elements of hybrid warfare,” Marzac told BIRN.

“Also, the narratives circulating in the international space, but also the regional and national one are strongly influenced by geopolitics, and the main promoting actors in that sense are China and Russia.”

Moldova has made some progress towards establishing the legal basis for a better information security strategy, but experts agree there is still much to be done.

“It is too early to talk about the existence in Moldova of an integrated and effective national mechanism for preventing and combating cybersecurity incidents and cybercrime,” said Marzac.

Pandemic Pushes Slovakia to Finally Target Disinformation

Posted on October 20, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

Standing on the blue-backed stage of the Globsec Forum in Bratislava on October 7, wearing an elegant black mask coordinated with her dress, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova addressed the main challenges that the pandemic poses to the world and the rule of law.

“It has exposed the real capacities and limitations of our crisis management, which has rested in peace for years,” she said. “Once again, we have seen that the spread of disinformation and hoaxes can be deadly,” she added, pinpointing one of the most pressing issues for her country.

Slovakia has been battling hybrid threats and disinformation for years, with most of the fighting falling on the shoulders of non-governmental activists and information and security experts. This year, however, the destructive power of disinformation manifested itself palpably for the first time.

“Slovakia is not doing a very good job in battling the pandemic at the moment,” admitted Marek Krajci, the Slovak health minister, on October 9, explaining the ever-growing numbers of new COVID-19 cases in the country. “I think the huge disinformation campaign is reflected in the bad results that we’re seeing right now.”

Another major manifestation of the frustration and anger caused by disinformation about COVID was witnessed at the weekend, when hundreds of people joined an unannounced and illegal protest in Bratislava, organised by football hooligans and neo-Nazi groups. Attacking the iron gate of the governmental office compound, they chanted vulgar slogans about the prime minister, threw stones at the police and called for people to ignore the new restrictive measures designed to combat the virus.

While during the first wave of the pandemic Slovakia saw itself as a “winner” of the crisis, largely thanks to the responsible behaviour of the general public, strict early measures and obligatory masks, this autumn has brought a much stronger second wave than the country feared.

According to opinion polls, people in Slovakia are unsure what information about coronavirus they can trust, support for government-mandated restrictive measures has decreased significantly and, ultimately, so has their trust in government leaders.

“It would be easy to blame the media or education systems or the internet for the erosion of citizens’ confidence, but do political leaders today project trust?” President Caputova asked rhetorically at Globsec, opening an important question for her own country, too.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova gives the opening address at the Globsec Bratislava Forum 2020. Photo: Globsec

A good start, but a long way to go

The new Slovak government that came into office in March defined countering disinformation and hybrid threats as one of its main goals for the next four years. In its manifesto, Igor Matovic‘s government named the fight against disinformation as a priority in foreign politics, defence, education and the media.

“The spreading of disinformation and hoaxes endangers the development of a knowledge-based society,” said the program of the new government. “The Government of SR will prepare an action plan for coordinating the fight against hybrid threats and spreading of disinformation, and build adequate centralised capacities to carry it out.”

Almost seven months later, this “action plan” is still a work in progress, the coordination centre is nowhere to be seen and the disinformation agenda is scattered among a few ministries, with no clear unified strategy in place.

“The first key thing that happened is that this theme has finally been addressed politically, and it is being given the proper attention,” Daniel Milo, an analyst at the Globsec Policy Institute, told BIRN.

“In previous years, there were some lonely fighters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or in the police, but there was no systematic support,” he said, adding that while it was good the new cabinet set as an official goal in its program the targeting of disinformation, it has yet to result in any concrete action.

One of the more visible efforts came this summer, when the Health Ministry hired Jakub Goda, a leading journalist focusing on disinformation, to help with its strategic communications. Reacting to the growing “infodemic” surrounding the coronavirus, the ministry is starting to focus on debunking hoaxes and sharing verified information from medical experts via social networks. “In the middle of the pandemic, the urgency of this problem became even clearer,” said Goda in an interview with BIRN earlier this month.

The Health Ministry prepared a short guide on how to see through disinformation about COVID-19, joined an information campaign by public broadcaster RTVS in which a leading expert on infectious diseases talked about the safety of wearing face masks, and recorded a video with COVID-19 patients sharing their personal experiences with the virus.

While the video registered an admirable 600,000 views with over 3,300 shares by October 19, the most viral posts from extremist politicians questioning the coronavirus crisis have been watched several times more, thanks to a developed network of dozens of Slovak Facebook pages that spread disinformation on a regular basis. The fight against disinformation by the Health Ministry is far from over, said Goda, adding that the ministry has already expanded capacities and more people should be hired soon.

Although Goda’s work at the ministry is essential, it is only a first step, experts think. “It is a good step, but to think that a single person will save the strategic communications of a whole ministry in such a big topic is naive,” said Milo.

“Jakub has dealt with these topics for years and I value him as a colleague, but this alone doesn’t stand a chance in stopping the enormous avalanche of lies about COVID-19 that are shared online and on social networks every day,” he explained. “However, he can do his part and maybe he can convince the management at the ministry that the communication and information part is just as important today as the medical measures.”

Another visible and popular vehicle for combatting disinformation is the Slovak police force’s Facebook page dedicated specifically to uncovering hoaxes. During the pandemic, police experts have debunked dozens of lies and manipulative posts about the virus, sharing the verified information with its 85,000 followers. Its most popular videos debunking lies about COVID-19 testing sites or the government preparing a tough lockdown were viewed by between 100,00 and 200,000 people each.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Slovakia is growing exponentially, data shows. Photo: Office of the Government of SR

Saving democracy

Over the past few years, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has taken the lead in combatting disinformation in Slovakia, focusing on developing strategic communications with the public. This year it opened a new department to counter hybrid threats and “enforce resilience” in the system.

“We have basically provoked more government activity in this area,” said Imrich Babic, head of the strategic communications department at the Slovak Foreign Ministry. “Now, there is big hope that it becomes more systematic. It is in the legislative plans of different ministries already, so it’s on a good path.”

The Foreign Ministry, it seems, might be the one part of government where most people, including political leaders, understand the importance of having clear and unambiguous messages in communication. Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok, the former Slovak ambassador to Washington and Brussels, said in his first press conference in March that there is no doubt about Slovakia’s place in Europe and in the world: its allies are in the West, and its aim is to protect European values and unity.

“It’s a question of strategic importance, of protecting a healthy democracy,” said Marcel Pesko, the special ambassador who is heading up the hybrid threats department at the Foreign Ministry.

“Slovakia is very vulnerable in this sense,” he added, explaining that he thinks it’s due to the combination of history, political communication and the fragile democratic heritage. “Based on all of this, Slovaks are more prone to trusting disinformation.”

Experts at the ministry agree that Slovakia needs to significantly step up its fight against hybrid threats. And that means adopting the “whole of society” approach: reforming the education curriculum, pushing for more control of social networks and forming a centralised coordination mechanism within government. “The process has already started; we just need to frame it now. We would like to create the coordination mechanism by the end of the year,” Pesko told BIRN.

The proposed mechanism should create a system for dealing with hybrid threats, which includes all the ministries as well as other government offices. Its precise form, however, has yet to be decided.

In the meantime, the Foreign Ministry is organising educational programs at universities and schools; setting up workshops for Slovak diplomats and ministry employees; coordinating their policies and communication in strategic areas; and fighting disinformation online, in the media and through direct communication from political leaders.

Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok speaks at a press conference after a government meeting. Photo: Office of the Government of SR

Addressing security threats

Even before COVID-19 spread across Europe, Slovakia had been the target of propaganda campaigns by Russia and China, including various forms of hybrid warfare, according to the Slovak intelligence services.

In August, Slovakia became the 28th EU state to join the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki and the Slovak Defence Ministry has become one of the leaders of the fight against disinformation within the new government.

“The Defence Ministry wants to be active in this area,” Martina Koval Kakascikova, spokeswoman for the ministry, told BIRN. “One of the reasons is that hybrid threats will become a significant part of military operations in the future.”

In October, the ministry hired a special advisor for dealing with hybrid threats, and the communications department has taken on an even bigger role debunking disinformation and hoaxes, too.

“Moreover, the pandemic has reinforced the disinformation narratives, so the Defence Ministry has intensified its strategic communications, whether on social networks or in the field,” said Koval Kakascikova. “We also think exchanging information and experiences in the area of combatting hybrid threats and disinformation with our partners is essential.”

Although public communication from leading politicians in the previous government could be described as chaotic or conflicting at best, there is some evidence that the activities of the individual experts at the foreign and defence ministries has bolstered public support for Slovakia’s membership of NATO and the EU over the past three years. While in 2017 only 43% of Slovaks supported NATO membership, by 2019 that support had grown to 56%, according to a Globsec Trends survey. Eurobarometer, which monitors the evolution of public opinion in all EU member states, confirmed that a steady majority of Slovaks still supports the EU. Trust in liberal democracy and Slovakia’s Western allies, particularly the US, remains a challenge, however.

An additional challenge will come later this month after the Slovak government announced its intention to carry out a mass testing program across the entire country, with the aim of becoming the first country in Europe to pull off such a feat.

Disinformation experts have already warned that anti-COVID and anti-health system campaigns will definitely take off, putting an extra strain on the government’s efforts in trying to persuade people about the benefits of general testing. “In the next two weeks, so-called agitprop will take over – a fast drumming, the more absurd the better,” predicted Infosecurity.sk. “There’s nothing to lose. People are ready to listen.”

To counter this threat effectively, Marcel Pesko, the person heading up the hybrid threats department at the Foreign Ministry, admitted that, “there is still a lot of work to do in this area.”

Although all government experts agree that activists and NGOs have, until now, done a good job in fighting disinformation, they say it’s time the state picks up the baton. “The role of the state can’t be replaced by NGOs or the media,” said Pesko. “It is important to have political will to deal with these topics. And I can see that now.”

Romanian NGOs Condemn Threat to Limit Access to Information

Posted on October 16, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

Five leading NGOs in Romania on Friday in an open letter condemned legislation tabled this week in parliament by an opposition Social Democratic Party MP – initially supported by the chief whip of the ruling National Liberal Party – that would reduce the state’s obligation to supply public information.

The legal amendment would make those requesting information liable to cover the financial costs of the process of collecting and releasing information, such as scanning and making copies of documents and other operations.

If the legislation is adopted, authorities could deny information requests on the basis of their volume – if the requested information or data exceeds 50 pages – or by invoking the request’s allegedly “malicious intent”.

The executive director of the Centre for Independent Journalism, CJI, Cristina Lupu, told BIRN that the spirit of the proposed legislation suggested that “the person who requests information is seen as an enemy of the state, not as someone exercising a fundamental right”.

The CJI along with other human rights groups such as ActiveWatch and the Centre for Public Innovation has signed the open letter.

Some MPs are already backing away form the law change. Soon after the media raised the alert about on the legislation being tabled, the chief whip of the ruling centre-right National Liberals, Florin Roman, announced on Facebook that he no longer supported the initiative.

“I have made a written request to withdraw my signature for this draft legislation,” the MP said. He said he had changed his mind after receiving “signals” from various “people of good faith” who warned him of its potentially “abusive interpretations”.

He announced that his party would vote against the legislation in parliament, which substantially diminishes its chances of ever being adopted.

However, although it is in opposition, the Social Democrats still have the largest number of seats in parliament, and could still seek the support of smaller parties to get the amendment adopted.

In their open letter, the five NGOs said the proposed legislation would undermine transparency and curb rights to free speech and free access to information, highlighting that these rights are protected by the Romanian constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lupu of the CJI warned that trust in the state recently “has diminished, and attempts to limit transparency are further reducing trust”.

She recalled that Romania’s government had temporarily limited access to information amid the COVID-19 pandemic by concentrating the supply of information in central institutions.

Lupu advocated boosting digitalization of the public administration as a way to optimize resources and overcome the logistical problems officials can face when responding to information requests, instead of refusing to answer them, or charging citizens for exercising their rights.

Romania is not the only country in the region experiencing the same worrying trend observed by Lupu. Activists across Central and Southeast Europe have warned of similar limitations on transparency in their countries, often under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Montenegrin Broadcaster Torn by Accusations of Sabotage and Political Interference

Posted on October 9, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

The management of Montenegro’s public broadcaster, RTCG, on Thursday accused members of the managing council and some editors of compromising editorial policy and working for the interests of former opposition parties that now form the new majority in parliament.

It accused the two NGO representatives on the nine-member council, Bojana Jokic and Milan Radovic, of deliberately sabotaging production and of helping the former opposition blocs to win the August 30 parliamentary elections. Jokic and Radovic represent civil society on the council.

“Internal pressure increased from party sleepers, who were ordered to sabotage the programme and compromise the editorial policy of RTCG. Council members Milan Radovic and Bojana Jokic are assisting them with the goal of the parliamentary majority taking over the public service as soon as possible,” a press release said.

The fiery response came after Jokic and Radovic on Thursday accused RTCG management of exerting unacceptable political pressure, after two editors were dismissed for disagreeing with the broadcaster’s editorial policy.

Editor Bojan Terzic said he was quitting because of the hostile way the broadcaster covered the issue of the Serbian Orthodox Church – a hot and divisive topic in the recent elections.

RTCG management also replaced another editor, Zoran Lekovic, after he also accused it on Facebook of unprofessionalism and of religious and national intolerance.

On Thursday, Jokic and Radovic called on the management to resign. “Freedom of expression of journalists must not be endangered. Pressure on journalists has increased so we call on the management to resign, and on journalists to self-organise”, Radovic said.

The parties that form the new majority on parliament have long accused RTCG as acting as a mouthpiece for the ousted Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS.

A battle over the future direction of the broadcaster was therefore inevitable after three opposition blocs won a slender majority of 41 of the 81 seats in parliament on August 30, ousting the long-ruling DPS.

In its 2020 progress report on Montenegro, the European Commission expressed “serious concern” about “continued political interference” in the work of the broadcaster.

Earlier, in 2018, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders noted the replacement of several key managers at RTCG with supporters of the DPS.

The appointment of new management in March 2017 that tried to distance itself from the ruling party and produce more balanced content created hope that things would change – but civil society organisations and the opposition have since said that those initial gains were rapidly lost.

After sacking two members of the managing council, drawn from the ranks of civil society, citing alleged conflicts of interest, in March 2018 parliament appointed successors who were seen as closer to the then ruling coalition.

Montenegro Jail Sentence for Investigative Journalist Condemned as ‘Kafkaesque’

Posted on October 8, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

Press freedom advocates on Thursday condemned a High Court ruling in Montenegro that sentenced the well-known investigative journalist Jovo Martinovic to a year in prison for drug trafficking.

In a second-instance verdict, the prominent journalist was found guilty of mediation in drug trafficking. He was acquitted of charges of organised crime activity.

As Martinovic already spent 15 months behind bars in pre-trial detention from 2015 to 2017, he will not go back to prison, however.

After the verdict was issued, Martinovic – who has worked as a contributing reporter for respected international media including The Economist, Newsday, The Global Post and The Financial Times as well as BIRN – told BIRN he had expected a conviction.

“The court refused to take into account all the evidence in my favour during the entire procedure, and most importantly refused to acknowledge that I was on a journalistic assignment that day [of his arrest], which the witnesses confirmed,” Martinovic said.

The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, RSF, said it was black day for press freedom, adding that Martinovic had been convicted despite a clear lack of evidence.

“RSF will continue supporting the journalist. This kafkaesque judicial prosecution lasting five years has to come to an end,” RSF said.

Martinovic was arrested in October 2015 alongside 17 others from Montenegro in a joint police operation conducted with Croatian police. He spent almost a year-and-a-half in custody before being released in January 2017 ahead of the trial.

In January 2019, in a first-instance ruling, a court jailed him for 18 months for drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organisation. But the Appeal Court in October that year overturned the verdict. As a result, a retrial was ordered.

The journalist always insisted he had made contacts with alleged drug traffickers only as part of his legitimate reporting work.

Many media unions and rights groups agreed, describing the case and the verdicts as a serious blow to journalism and freedom of expression and called for his acquittal.

As BIRN reported previously, Martinovic made contacts with two of the 17 suspects arrested in 2015: Dusko Martinovic – no relation to the journalist – and Namik Selmanovic.

Dusko Martinovic, the main suspect in the case, was also a convicted member of a gang of jewel thieves known as the so-called “Pink Panthers”. Operating in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, they are believed to have stolen hundreds of millions of euros’ worth of jewellery. Martinovic worked with him on a series of TV shows about the robbers produced by Vice media group.

He worked alongside Selmanovic when a French production company, CAPA Presse, hired them to contribute to research on a documentary about weapons smuggling.

Dusko Martinovic was sentenced to six years and three months in prison in January 2019. Selmanovic has turned state’s evidence.

Brussels Greenlights Contentious Media Sale in Central Europe

Posted on October 7, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

The European Commission on Wednesday approved the sale of Central European Media Enterprises, CME, to the PPF Group conglomerate, whose owner, the Czech Republic’s richest businessman, Peter Kellner, has been accused of acting as a proxy for China.

The CME, majority owned by AT&T, operates 30 television channels in five Central and East European markets.

Civil society groups earlier warned that the sale could boost China’s influence on the TV sector in Central and Eastern European countries where both groups are present. Concerns have also been raised over potential market concentration.

The EU executive body dismissed these objections, however. “Based on its market investigation, the Commission found that the transaction, as notified, would not impact the companies’ position in these markets,” a statement on its website said.

“PPF and CME are both active in the acquisition of sports broadcasting rights in Czechia and Slovakia and in the sale of advertising space in Czechia,” the statement added. “In parallel, the two companies are active at different levels of the TV value chain,” it continued.

“CME is mainly active as a wholesale supplier of TV channels in a number of Member States, while PPF offers retail audio-visual and telecommunications services in Bulgaria, Czechia and Slovakia,” it asserted.

These elements pose no real risk to fair competition, the Commission went on, as “the companies generally do not compete for the acquisition of the same sports rights and the transaction would only lead to a limited increase in PPF’s existing share of the market.

“Similarly, PPF’s activities represent a negligible share and would not add significantly to CME’s position in the market for the sale of advertising space in Czechia.”

The sale will give Kellner’s group control over leading private television stations now owned by CME in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. CME’s main channel in Slovakia, Markiza TV, is widely considered a rare independent television station in the country.

PPF has already interests in the audiovisual and telecommunications sectors in some of these countries.

The deal was signed in October last year. A PPF representative said on Wednesday that the group expected the purchase to be finalised on October 13.

Last February, US Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a known China hawk, urged the US authorities to launch “a full review of the national security implications” of the sale.

Rubio insisted that the deal would advance “the Chinese Communist Party’s political interference” in the countries where CME operates.

If the sale to PPF went ahead, Rubio observed, Kellner’s group would control of channels with a massive audience of 97 million people only in Romania and Bulgaria, where CME owns rating market leaders Pro TV and b1.

China in July announced retaliatory sanctions on Rubio, fellow Republican Senator Ted Cruz and other US officials for their harsh criticism of its policies.

Kellner has often been accused of serving China’s interests in Czechia, where his PPF group has its base. These services are said to include whitewashing Beijing’s record through a paid propaganda campaign in the Czech media.

Montenegrins in Self-Isolation Sue State for Publishing Names

Posted on September 30, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

More than 300 citizens of Montenegro have filed lawsuits against the state for publishing their names on lists of people ordered to self-isolate. On Wednesday, a Podgorica-based lawyer, Dalibor Kavaric, who represents some of the citizens, said the government had violated their human rights.

“By publishing the names and personal data of persons in self-isolation, the government stigmatized them and unnecessarily exposed their privacy to the public … the government has unnecessarily caused material damage to the budget of Montenegro just because it didn’t respect the constitution,” Kavaric told BIRN.

The government published the names on March 21, despite warnings from opposition parties and civic society organisations that it risked violating constitutionally guaranteed human rights. They also warned that citizens whose names were published might sue the state before the courts.

The government said it had a right to publish the names because some citizens were not respecting self-isolation obligations. It also said it had approval for its actions from the Agency for Personal Data Protection. It stressed that the security forces could not control every citizen who should be in self-isolation, and that anyone who failed to self-isolate posed a threat to the entire community.

The Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Aivo Orav, called on the authorities to find the right balance between protecting the health and respecting the confidentiality of health information and the right to privacy of citizens.

Danilo Papovic, from the Civic Alliance, said citizens had every right to to seek legal protection of their civil rights.

“The lawsuits are completely justified … This government action indicates the absence of responsibility both in the legal and financial sense, bearing in mind that the consequences of illegal actions are ultimately borne by the citizens, because any compensation is paid from the budget,” Papovic told BIRN.

On March 22, Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said no compromises would be made with those who violated preventative measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also warned that the government would continue to publish the names of citizens who had been ordered to self-isolate.

“The lives of our citizens are the priority. We have estimated that the right to health and life is above the right to unconditional protection of personal data,” Markovic said.

But after the Civic Alliance submitted an appeal to the Constitutional court on March 23, on July 23, the court annulled the government decision to publish the names of citizens ordered to self-isolate – though it did not rule that the government had violated their human rights. The government then removed the list from its website.

A lawyer from Bijelo Polje, Milos Kojovic, said the Constitutional Court had confirmed that the government had violated basic human rights and freedoms by publishing the names of persons ordered to self-isolation. “The government didn’t respect their right to a private and family life,” Kojovic told the daily newspaper Dan.

“Persons on the list published on the official government website, then transmitted by all electronic and print media, are entitled to fair compensation for violation of their personal rights,” he added.

Hungary’s Last Independent Radio Station at Risk

Posted on September 11, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

Hungary’s Media Council decided on Friday not to automatically extend the licence of the government-critical Klubradio – the last remaining opposition radio station is Hungary, which only functions offline in the metropolitan area of Budapest.

Klubradio is one of a declining number of outlets that are critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz government, which since coming to power in 2010 has set about co-opting or killing off critical media outlets, shrewdly concealing most as neutral business decisions. This led to a number of press freedom, freedom of expression and journalistic organisations earlier this month urging the European Commission to act on several complaints that the Hungarian government has violated EU state aid rules as a means to undermine media pluralism.

The government-appointed Media Council argued that Klubradio had repeatedly violated the country’s media law, therefore its licence – due to expire on February 14, 2021– cannot be automatically extended. If Klubradio wishes to continue its service, the Media Council said it would have to apply for a new licence. Should its application for a new licence fail, Klubradio’s only option would be to broadcast online.

The Media Council did not specify exactly what they meant by violating the media law. Previously, the CEO of Klubradio, Richard Stock, denied to the Media1 news site that his station had committed any violation which could lead to the termination of its licence.

As Media1 reported, this is not the first time that Klubradio’s situation has been precarious. The Media Council has been trying to undermine the radio’s operations for years now, but Klubradio repeatedly went to court and won against the media authority. In a statement, Klubradio said it intends to continue using legal measures to stay on the air.

“The leaders and employees of Klubradio are looking for legal and other means in order to ensure that Hungary’s last independent radio, which authentically informs hundreds of thousands of people every day, is not silenced,” it said in the statement.

From the government’s side, there seems to be a conscious strategy to neuter the radio segment of the media. The Media Council decided to turn off DAB+ digital radio broadcasting in Hungary just last week, arguing that in the last 12 years there has been no real demand for this service. Gabor Polyak, from Mertek Media Monitoring, said in a recent interview that the government wants to keep a tight grip on the radio market. If digital broadcasting were still an option, the Media Council could not keep a monopoly on frequency licences.

Press Freedom Groups Urge EU to Act over Hungary Media Violations

Posted on September 2, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

A number of press freedom, freedom of expression and journalists’ organisations urged the European Commission on Wednesday to act on several complaints that the Hungarian government has violated EU state aid rules as a means to undermine media pluralism.

The joint letter from 16 organisations – including Reporters Without Borders, the International Press Institute and the Committee to Protect Journalists – comes after a decade of attacks by Viktor Orban’s government on the independence of the country’s media. This has resulted in “a degree of [state] media control unprecedented in an EU member state”, according to Reporters without Borders, and the country falling to 89th place out of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index.

The letter calls on Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager to act on complaints that the Hungarian government has violated EU state aid rules by manipulating the media market through the weaponization of state resources “to punish critical media and reward government mouthpieces.”

The letter’s authors highlight their serious concern that the European Commission has not acted on two State Aid complaints (No. 53108 and No. 45463) lodged in 2018 and 2016.

State Aid complaint No. 53108, lodged in November 2018, alleges bias in the distribution of state advertising to media outlets in Hungary. By way of example, the signatories cite the case of Index.hu, Hungary’s largest independent and most popular online news site, which in the years prior to last month’s mass resignations over threats to its editorial interference received virtually nothing in state advertising, despite being a market leader, while its main competitor, the pro-government Origo.hu, benefitted heavily.

State Aid complaint No. 45463, lodged in 2016, concerns the Hungarian public service broadcaster (PSB), which the signatories claim has long since ceased to meet the definition of public service broadcasting, with news coverage presented in a way that shows deliberate and clear bias in favour of the ruling Fidesz party.

The European Commission’s failure to act on these complaints, the letter notes, “allows for the further decimation of independent media in the country”.

Hungary’s government has, indeed, an impressive track record of killing critical media outlets, shrewdly concealing most as some kind of neutral business decisions. The process of co-opting state media into government mouthpieces, the centralisation of all regional daily newspapers, and the takeover or closure of several government-critical news sites and newspapers culminated in almost all government-loyal media outlets being centralised in KESMA (the Hungarian acronym for Central European Press and Media Foundation).

This merger, which was clearly in breach of all the country’s competition laws, could not be investigated by the Competition Authority, as it was branded of “strategic importance” by the government. This move was later ruled legal by the country’s pliant Constitutional Court.

“The creation of the KESMA foundation in late 2018, which united pro-government media and was exempted from normal competition review, further undermined media pluralism in Hungary and has facilitated a centralized system of content control,” the letter said. “By the end of 2018, according to independent research, an estimated 80 percent of the market for public affairs news was being financed by sources determined by the FIDESZ party. This means KESMA now controls over 470 media outlets in Hungary.”

The letter concludes by urging the European Commission take action to defend the right of the Hungarian public to access free and pluralistic sources of news. “This must include responding to all complaints related to the misuse of state aid in Hungary. Addressing these issues is essential to defending media freedom, media pluralism and the rule of law both in Hungary and within the EU as a whole,” it said.

Serbia Keeps COVID-19 Medical Procurement Data Under Wraps

Posted on August 31, 2020January 26, 2023 by Ivana Jeremic

Serbia’s National Insurance Health Fund, RFZO, the public institution responsible for medical supplies procurement in Serbia, has declined to answer an FOIA request from BIRN about the amount of medical equipment purchased during the epidemic, the names of suppliers and how much money was spent on it, saying the government had classified such data “top secret” at the outset of the pandemic.

“Data on medical devices, medical equipment, personal and protective equipment, sanitary and medical consumables procured in Serbia during the state of emergency caused by COVID-19, as well as documentation on it, are marked with the security classification ‘top secret,’” RFZO said in a written answer to BIRN.

Under the government’s decision from March 15, which RFZO quoted, information about public procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be made available to the public until the pandemic ends.

In its request sent on August 12, BIRN asked about the quantity of purchased protective masks, protective suits, gloves, hats and tests for COVID-19 and the total amount of money spent on them.

BIRN also asked about the prices at which this equipment was sold to pharmacies, as well as about the registration of medical equipment at the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency of Serbia, which is necessary for the import and placement of those goods on the Serbian market.

Besides that, BIRN requested information about the total amount spent out of 9.5 billion dinars, which the Serbian government transferred to RFZO on March 31, 2020, “in order to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 disease”. That point was left unanswered, too.

Serbia reported the first cases of COVID-19 in the beginning of March and declared a state of emergency on March 15 that lasted until May 6.

During that time, Serbia was criticised for deciding to lengthen the time state bodies have to answer FOIA requests. It left many journalists having to wait until the state of emergency was lifted before their requests could be answered.

Serbia’s government faces many questions about its general response to the pandemic, amid claims that there was a lack of necessary medical equipment, among other things.

At the end of June, BIRN revealed that Serbia had under-reported COVID-19 deaths and infections. Data from the state’s COVID-19 information system showed that the number of infected patients who had died was twice as large as the number that the authorities announced. Hundreds more people had tested positive for the virus in June than was admitted.

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