Wednesday, 15 November, 2017
MEETING OF PRESIDENT XHAFERI WITH THE OSCE REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA, MR. HARLEM DESIR
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Talat Xhaferi, today had a meeting with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr. Harlem Desir. President Xhaferi expressed his satisfaction from meeting again with Mr. Desir, this time in the capacity of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. He underlined that the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia supports OSCE missions and activities in the region, and are also regularly participatants in the work of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and noted that on October last year, the Assembly hosted the Autumn Meeting of the OSCE PA when discussing the strengthening of confidence-building measures and good governance in the OSCE region.
Mr. Xhaferi underlined that openness and transparency of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia towards the media, non-governmental sector and citizens has been fully enhanced compared to the previous period and informed that a large number of non-governmental organizations held their events in the Assembly. In addition, the agenda of the President is available on the website of the Assembly, and the citizens can apply electronically for attendance at the plenary sessions or to ask questions to the MPs.
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media., Mr. Harlem Desir expressed his satisfaction from the positive changes and the progress of the Republic of Macedonia since his last visit to the country. According to Mr. Desir, at a time when the freedom of media is increasingly under pressure in the OSCE region, the function of parliaments in adopting appropriate legislation on the protection and safety of journalists is of a great relevance. Mr. Desir informed on the meetings with non-governmental organizations and representatives of the public broadcasting service and assessed that it is necessary to provide stable funding for MRT in order to ensure a professional, independent editorial policy and a qualitative program. He underlined that in the era of internet media and false news, having a strong and neutral public broadcasting service is of a great importance.
The President of the Assembly informed on the process of designing, drafting and adopting the budget of the Republic of Macedonia, as well as on the process of public procurement and stated that budget users shall have the freedom to dispose of assets for covering the needs, and the regulation shall be precise, clear and simple.
At the meeting was also discussed about the events on 27th April 2017, where despite the MPs, journalists were targeted as well. It was emphasized that it is necessary incidents to be completely investigated and the perpetrators to be respectively punished.
The interlocutors also discussed about the reform in the media sector, and especially for the amendment on the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, in which are incorporated the remarks of OSCE, media community and experts, and agreed that the success of reforms is dependent not only on the successful adoption of laws, but also on the complete implementation of laws, and on the control of implementation as well.