The members of the Steering Committee of the EU and Council of Europe joint action “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia”, as well as representatives from the JUFREX certified pool of trainers attended the closing event to mark the end of the second phase of the action and to summarize its results.
Lejla Dervisagic, Head of Operations of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Skopje, opened the meeting by pointing out the important work done through this action towards fulfilling European standards on freedom of expression. On behalf of the Council of Europe she expressed her gratefulness for the partners’ dedicated work and cooperation, and for their willingness to continue the same path.
Marie KANELLOPOULOU Marie-Madeleine, Head of Operations 1 at the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of North Macedonia, pointed out the significance of this action in view of the necessary legal changes in the country especially considering the negotiations process with the European Union and the bilateral screening process of the areas that are overall covered by the Horizontal Facility instrument.
As the purpose of this meeting was to summarize the results of the action, covering both of its phases and the period 2016-2022, Council of Europe expert Velimir Delovski briefly presented the extensive legal analysis that was prepared during the last six months. This legal analysis includes topics that are covered under the action, such as hate speech, defamation and insult, internet and freedom of expression, safety of journalists and freedom of expression and good administration of justice. It analyses the domestic case-law in view of its harmonisation with European standards, the key flaws to be overpassed and provides key recommendations for the next phase of the action. The final version of the legal analysis will be available during the first quarter of 2023.
JUFREX partners also had their addressing during the closing event. The recently re-elected Director of the Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors, Natasha Gaber-Damjanovska congratulated on the successful completion of the action that has contributed to continuous progress and growth of the judges and public prosecutors, and pointed out the multidisciplinary feature of the action i.e. the good side of including all the key stakeholders when it comes to protecting the freedom of expression as defined in Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Jelena Ristikj, Vice-president of the Bar Association of North Macedonia also pointed out the importance of the cooperation with the JUFREX action for the Bar Association and the knowledge lawyers obtained through the joint activities. On behalf of the Association, she expressed hopes to continue with the same dynamics in the future, and to support the initial and advanced training and education of lawyers in North Macedonia, who in the end will be able to provide high quality legal aid to the citizens.
Dimitar Tanurov, Senior Associate for European Integration and International Cooperation, as representative from the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, once again confirmed the great cooperation with the JUFREX team in North Macedonia and its flexibility and availability to respond to the needs of the Agency as they have changed in the pandemic and during the period of implementation of the action.
Biljana Nasteska Kalanoska, Communication Officer, who together with the Executive Director of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, Dragan Sekulovski, attended the closing event, in her presentation had summarised the great results achieved through this action: amendments to the Criminal Code and new adopted Law on Defamation and Insult. Summarized, the cooperation with the Association of Journalists includes: 13 events, more than 400 participants, great media coverage of the events, high-profile participants such as ministers of justice and the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, various experts from the Council of Europe whose knowledge and exchange contributed directly to initiating amendment procedures of relevant laws. In addition, this cooperation resulted in the appointment of public prosecutor as key contact point to deal with cases for protection of journalists, Iskra Hadzi-Vasileva, who was also present at the closing event and expressed her readiness to cooperate with the Council of Europe and this action in the future.
The Vice-Dean for education at the Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” in Skopje, Boban Misovski, said that they are also looking forward to deepening the cooperation with this action in the future towards ensuring high-quality education materials and knowledge for the students particularly those in master studies.
Overall, the second phase of the action was assessed as great success. Partners and certified JUFREX trainers continuously cooperate and exchange among themselves on the topic, which proves the importance of the inter-professional aspect of the action and the sustainability it ensures through capacity building of the key stakeholders in the field. Therefore, the continuation of the action in the upcoming four years was greeted by all, as the topic is dynamic, and the case-law is continuously building up so in the future the action will continue to support the beneficiaries to bring European standards home.
The action “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia” is part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.
