VIENNA, 23 February 2017 – The OSCE Chairmanship and Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media will host a high-level conference titled “Freedom of the Media in the Western Balkans”, on 27 February 2017 in Vienna.

The event will provide a platform for the sharing of initiatives and best practices from South-east Europe region on media freedom issues affecting countries across the entire OSCE region with a particular focus on the safety of journalists and media ethics.

During the opening session, participants will be welcomed by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and will hear presentations by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović, Albania’s Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak as well as a keynote address by Andreas Ernst, the Belgrade-based correspondent of the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The conference will take place in the Hofburg Conference Centre’s Neuer Saal, on the second floor. Simultaneous translation into the Albanian and the Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian languages will be provided.

Follow the meeting on social media with the hashtags #protectjournalists, #osce17AUT.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on www.facebook.com/osce.rfom. 

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/cio/301601