AGK Condemns the Non-Accreditation of Serbian-Language Media for Sunday’s Elections
The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) is deeply concerned about the unprecedented decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to deny accreditation to all Serbian-language media for coverage of the October 12 elections.
Requests for accreditation as observers from dozens of Serbian-language media outlets operating in Kosovo were collectively rejected during today’s CEC meeting.
From the discussions among members of the commission, the rejection appears to be politically and ethnically motivated.
AGK views this decision as unacceptable, as it runs contrary to Kosovo’s democratic values and violates media freedom in the country. Serbian-language media in Kosovo are officially registered either as businesses with the Kosovo Business Registration Agency (ARBK) or as NGOs with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MBP).
Kosovo Serb citizens have a constitutional right to be informed about such an important democratic process in their own language, which is one of the official languages of Kosovo.
AGK encourages the rejected media outlets to immediately appeal the decision to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), in accordance with Article 54, paragraph 8 of the Law on Elections, and calls on this institution to urgently review and overturn the CEC’s decision.
