Officials of the OHR and OSCE, as well as representatives of the US, German, French, and UK embassies in BiH today met with leaders of independent media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in the Republika Srpska. International Community representatives underscored that an independent, vibrant civil society and media are cornerstones of a healthy democracy. They also expressed their concern over recent allegations of attempts to infringe upon the press freedom and rule of law in BiH and stressed the important “watch dog” role an independent press and civil society performs. International Community representatives agreed to relay the concerns outlined by NGO and media participants to Republika Srpska officials.
NGOs and independent media attending the meeting included Head of Narodni Front Dragomir Babic, economic expert and former RS minister Svetlana Cenic, Editor of Patriot magazine Slobodan Vaskovic, Friedrich Ebert Foundation analyst Tanja Topic, freelance journalist Gordana Katana, Editor of Buka TV show, Aleksandar Trifunovic, Transparency International member Srdjan Blagovcanin, member of the RS Helsiniki Committee for Human Rights, Vedrana Subotic and Chairman of the RS Employers Confederation, Damir Miljevic.