The CEC did not accredit any Serbian media for the local elections/ What happened?

2025-10-09 21:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The CEC did not accredit any Serbian media for the local elections/ What

The Central Election Commission has not accredited several media outlets to observe Sunday's local elections, mainly Serbian media outlets from Kosovo and Serbia, following concerns raised by members of this body, who said that some of these media outlets are "known for propaganda and slander against Kosovo."

CEC members asked the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities to conduct further verifications of these media outlets.

"If you think further verifications should be made, we will do so," said the director of this office, Besnik Buzhala.

During the meeting held on October 9, 29 local and 13 international media outlets were accredited with a total of 573 observers.

AGK, "concerned" with the CEC's decision

The Association of Kosovo Journalists (AGK) expressed concern about the CEC's "unprecedented" decision not to accredit any Serbian-language media.

"From the discussions of the members at the meeting, the refusal appears to be of a political and ethnic nature. The AJK sees this decision as unacceptable and contrary to the democratic values ??of Kosovo, and the freedom of the media in the country. Serbian-language media in Kosovo are registered with the ARBK as businesses, or with the MBP as NGOs," said the AJK, adding that Serbs in Kosovo have a constitutional right to be informed about such an important process in their own language, which is an official language.

The AKG encouraged all rejected media outlets to immediately appeal to the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel.

There were also reactions to the decision from the Journalists' Association of Serbia and its branch in Kosovo, who assessed the CEC's decision as discriminatory and demanded an urgent response from the European and International Federation of Journalists, as well as from the international community.

Meanwhile, the mission in Kosovo of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it is disappointed with the CEC's decision not to accredit Serbian-language media.

"Free and transparent elections depend on open and equal access for all media to observe, report and inform the public about electoral developments. Restricting media accreditation based on perceived community affiliation, language or editorial stance limits the ability of journalists to carry out their professional duties," the OSCE said.

For Radio Kim, the CEC's decision is "a kind of scandal"

One of the media outlets that was not accredited is Radio Kim from Çagllavica. The editor of this media outlet, Zorica Vorguçiq, in a statement to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said that the CEC's decision not to accredit any media outlet reporting in Serbian is "a kind of scandal."

She emphasized that the media outlet where she works had properly and on time submitted all the necessary documentation required by the CEC for accreditation, had received confirmation of receipt of the request, but on Thursday she had seen the rejection notice.

"They didn't even have the kindness to let us know that we were rejected. I don't know what the reason is, because they didn't make it known," she said.

Vorgucic stressed that Radio Kim has followed all electoral processes since the post-war period and that their journalists have regularly received accreditations, including those for the February 9 parliamentary elections.

She added that among the rejected media outlets are almost all those that report in the Serbian language - whether local ones registered in Kosovo or from Serbia that have correspondents in Kosovo.

"Who will report on voting in Serb-majority areas when no journalistic team is accredited? This should be an alarm for the media community, regardless of which ethnic group it comes from... This is an alarm for professional associations, the OSCE and the EU. I hope that someone from the aforementioned will react and take action," she declared.

What did the CEC members say?

Alban Krasniqi from the Vetevendosje Movement demanded that international media be separated from those from the international arena, the countries that recognize Kosovo from those coming from Serbia, "which are also known for the propaganda, the slander they do and the special war they wage against Kosovo."

He cited the example of Radio Television of Serbia, which said it does not recognize Kosovo as a state and treats it "as part of Serbia."

Democratic League of Kosovo member Sami Hamiti mentioned other media outlets that, according to him, follow Serbian politics and are financed by this state. He said that there are Serbian-language media outlets registered in Kosovo, but they belong to a media group based in Belgrade, which, according to him, "is connected to the government there."

For such media, he said he could not vote.

Even the two representatives of the Democratic Party of Kosovo saw the list recommended by the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities as problematic.

"The list should be returned to the Independent Media Commission and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and they should provide answers as to whether there are any media outlets or individuals within them that could violate public order or even the general interest," said Ilir Gashi.

Muharrem Nitaj from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo acknowledged that concerns about media outlets from Serbia remain. He said that such media outlets are not in the IMC database and in practice this institution is not required to grant permission for them to operate on election day in Kosovo.

"It is entirely within the authority of the CEC and any other institution to accredit them or not for local elections. If we do not have information about media that are not registered, it is a problem to vote on the list," he said.

However, these justifications were opposed by the representative of the Serbian List, Gordana Llaban. She said that it is not logical to prejudge in advance that these media can do something and therefore are not being accredited.

Kosovo holds local elections on October 12. Citizens in 38 municipalities will elect new leaders and new compositions of municipal assemblies.

The CEC's decision to disaccredit media outlets from Serbia comes after Kosovo's President, Vjosa Osmani, and the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, have accused Serbia of interfering in these elections./ Rel