“United Media has taken appropriate legal action before the relevant state bodies to contest the illegally issued program broadcasting licenses to media outlets owned by the state company Telekom Serbia,” said United Media (UM).

It said that “after the REM (Regulatory Body for Electronic Media) at the beginning of October enabled the Balkan Sport channels, owned by Telekom, to broadcast programs, in association with domestic broadcasters UM filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court, sent requests to the REM to act within its jurisdiction, and sent complaints to the relevant public prosecutor’s office to review these blatant violations of the law.”

United Media demands that “all program broadcasting licenses issued in violation of the law” be rescinded.

Under the provisions of the Law on Public Information and Media and Law on Electronic Media in force, the state cannot directly or indirectly found media outlets, nor can companies indirectly owned by it (including Telekom Serbia) be media publishers or even holders of REM licenses.

“The issuance of licenses in violation of the law favors state-owned media, which have significant public funds and a privileged position at their disposal, i.e., there are no equal conditions for all the participants in the market, which is also noticeable from the actions of the senior state officials who promote Telekom Serbia’s business operations on a daily basis and enable its media outlets to operate with enormous losses. This threatens the media market, media pluralism and the basic postulates of free expression, which runs counter to the state’s strategic orientation,” emphasized UM.

The company hopes that “the relevant authorities will act within the scope of their duties to prevent further violations of the law.”

“We are skeptical, considering the current practice but also the current intention to subsequently legalize this situation with new laws and enable state ownership of media. We note that, in violation of explicit legal provisions, the REM has so far awarded over 20 licenses to broadcasters owned by Telekom Serbia (such as Euronews, Bloomberg, Arena Sport, Superstar, Agro TV, etc.,” UM stressed.

It added that, “after much criticism of such practices from the public, other market participants, even international actors, the Serbian government has now decided to formalize Telekom’s illegal media operations through changes to two laws, and to re-establish the state’s direct presence in the media sector.”

“If adopted, these laws will enable for media power to be concentrated in the hands of one company, which will make the media darkness even worse. That is why this is not just a legal battle, but we see it as a synonym for a bigger battle – a battle for media freedom and citizens’ right to diverse information,” said United Media.