CEC withdraws decision to disaccredit several local and Serbian media outlets

2025-10-10 20:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Central Election Commission has decided to withdraw from the decision taken the day before and accredit 28 local and international media outlets to observe the local elections to be held on October 12.

The decision was made at an online meeting held just a day after a majority of CEC members decided not to accredit these media outlets, citing concerns that most of them were from Serbia or were funded by that state. Some of the members raised concerns that Serbian media outlets could spread propaganda on election day.

But, among them there were also media outlets that report in Albanian.

"Following the preliminary meeting of the CEC, on October 9, 2025, the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities recommended the accreditation of the observation organizations after an assessment of the documentation submitted with the application and information available from sources, such as: the Independent Media Council and the Council of Written Media in Kosovo," the CEC statement said.

Some of these media outlets, which were not accredited yesterday, have filed a complaint with the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel.

Meanwhile, during the October 9 meeting, the CEC accredited 29 local and 13 international media outlets with a total of 573 observers.

The October 9 decision to disaccredit several media outlets prompted harsh reactions from organizations that deal with the protection of journalists, but also from the international community.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission in Kosovo said it was disappointed with the CEC's decision not to accredit Serbian-language media outlets. Meanwhile, the German Embassy in Kosovo supported the statement issued by the OSCE on the issue, saying it joins in calling "on all relevant institutions to ensure equal treatment for all media outlets and to respect the principles of media freedom and non-discrimination."/ Rel