A shared commitment to reinforcing the safety of journalists, countering SLAPPs, and advancing media freedom as a core democratic value in Bosnia and Herzegovina was reaffirmed at the third Steering Committee meeting, under the joint European Union and Council of Europe action “Protecting Freedom of Expression and of the Media in Bosnia and Herzegovina” (PRO-FREX).
Held in Sarajevo, the meeting brought together the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Press and Online Media Council, Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both entities’ Centres for Judicial and Prosecutorial Education, both entities’ Bar Associations, as well as EU and Council of Europe representatives.
During the meeting, key achievements of the project were presented and discussed, with participants agreeing on the upcoming activities for 2025 and 2026. This will include continued support to judiciary, legal professionals, law enforcement agencies as well as the media community, providing more efficient protection to journalists and other media actors and strengthening freedom of expression and the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PROFREX)”, implemented by the Division for Cooperation on Freedom of Expression of the Council of Europe, is part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.
The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” (Horizontal Facility III) is a co-operation initiative, running from 2023 until 2026.
The programme covers actions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye. It enables the Beneficiaries to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.
The third phase of the programme is worth €41 million (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).
