The oldest newspaper in the Serbian language in Kosovo and Metohija, the Pristina newspaper “Jedinstvo” marked today the 74th anniversary since its establishment with a symbolic protest because it’s been 34 days since the Serbian press is not distributed in Kosovo, due to the increase of the tariffs on import of Serbian goods, Radio kontakt plus reports.
Pristina’s decision to introduce 100% tax on imports of goods from central Serbia and BiH has also affected, among other things, the distribution of Serbia press in Kosovo.
Director of public printing company (NIJP) Panorama that prints “Jedinstvo,” Svetozar Vlahovic said that the journalists of this newspaper were unreservedly supporting their people but also the justice and truth and they would continue to do so.
Vecernje Novosti correspondent from Kosovo, member of the board of “Panorama-Jedinstvo” and the Executive Board of the Association of Journalists of Serbia, Dragana Zecevic said that freedom of press is the basis of democracy and the right to information in mother tongue is a basic human right.
She reminded that today is the 34th day since the Serbian press does not arrive to Kosovo, and that the distributing company for the local market “Beokolp” was ready to pay a tax of 100%, but despite of that, the press does not arrive because the customs officials demanded that the invoice is addressed to “Republic of Kosovo”.
“Considering that the freedom of press is one of the fundamental human rights, which is protected in multiple ways by international conventions, we call upon Pristina to stop restricting the right of the Serbian people in Kosovo to information in Serbian language and to most urgently ensure the unhindered distribution of the press,” Zecevic said.
“We call on the European and World Federation of Journalists, OSCE, EU, U.S., Reporters Without Borders and other international actors to prevent the violation of the basic human rights of Serbs in Kosovo, as the dissemination of information must be free of all economic and political restrictions.”
The protest was organized on the day of making the 74th anniversary since the founding of “Jedinstvo”, with the support of colleagues from other media outlets reporting in the Serbian language.
The newspaper “Jedinstvo” is the only printed weekly newspaper in Serbian language in Kosovo that has been published in Mitrovica North since 1999, after their expulsion from Pristina. “Jedinstvo” was first printed on December 25 in 1944.
