Kosovo has made progress in terms of media freedom, according to the World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders.
In this index, Kosovo ranks this year in the 61st position, compared to the 78th position it held in 2021.
The upward trend comes after the decline it marked last year – by eight positions – compared to the 2020 ranking.
But, despite the progress, Kosovo continues to remain among the countries with “problematic situation”, as Reporters Without Borders estimates.
This category also includes other countries of the Western Balkans, such as: Albania, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Of these, similar to Kosovo, progress has been made by: Northern Macedonia in 57th position out of 90; Serbia in position 79 out of 93 and Montenegro in position 63 out of 104.
Albania has deteriorated – from position 83 where it was last year, to position 103.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is similar: last year it was in the 58th position, this year in the 67th.
The situation in Europe
Reporters Without Borders reports on World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 3.
The report assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories around the world.
In Europe, according to the report, Norway remains at the top of the World Press Freedom Index, but, nevertheless, there are significant inequalities.
Estonia and Lithuania – two former communist states – are now in the top ten, while the Netherlands is no more.
Greece, meanwhile, has replaced Bulgaria in last place in Europe.
These developments and inequalities reflect three main trends, the report said.
First: the murder of journalists. The report specifically mentions the assassination of journalists: Giorgios Karaivaz in Greece and Peter R. De Vries in the Netherlands, in 2021.
“Those responsible for the murders of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and Jan Kuciak in Slovakia before 2020 have not yet been convicted,” the report said.
The Maltese government’s chief of staff resigns over the murder of a journalist
Citing the second reason for the situation on the continent, the report says that journalists – mistakenly equated with governments – have faced hostility from protesters, who have opposed measures against the coronavirus.
“In Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, journalists have been physically assaulted and confronted with insults and threats of all kinds across the continent,” the report said.
The third reason, according to the report, is that some governments of the European Union and neighboring countries have tightened laws against journalists, especially in Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, Albania and Greece, but do not provide details on which laws are in question.
How to protect yourself from fake news?
The last five countries in the list of Reporters Without Borders, where the situation with doing journalism is considered “very serious”, are: North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Turkmenistan and Myanmar.
