Opinie EUObserver: 'Eurocommissaris Füle, wij hebben meer nodig dan woorden' (en)

PRISTINA - An open letter on Balkans media to EU enlargement and neighbourhood commissioner Stefan Fuele i.

Dear Mr Fuele,

Following your kind invitation, I will be going to the Speak Up! conference in Brussels on Thursday (20 June).

It's the second time you have organised such a meeting to help EU-aspirant countries protect free speech.

This year, in order to come I will miss my daughter's end-of-year ballet recital. Her name is Lisa. She is eight and she is furious with me.

I will also miss my son's end-of-year school report. His name is Sharr. He is 10 and he is also very annoyed.

In my house, Lisa and Sharr "speak up" when they don't like something.

This is why I keep going to all sorts of meetings on media freedom.

We must keep fighting so that grown-ups in Kosovo and in other parts of the Western Balkans are also free to speak up when they feel something is wrong.

Many of the meetings are pointless.

But as Vaclav Havel, your Czech compatriot, once said: Hope is not the belief that something will turn out well, it is the conviction that it is the right thing to do.

Mr Fuele, two years ago, I gave a speech at the first Speak Up! event.

I said journalists in Kosovo face grave political and financial pressure.

I said some of the very Kosovar VIPs whom you meet in Brussels are trying to silence independent media at home.

I said we are bombarded by threats, bribes and extortion attempts by their business associates.

I said investigative reporters who work on stories about corruption or mismanagement are risking their lives.

We spoke of my government's failure to sustain democracy, of weak institutions ruled by clientele, and of social injustice fuelled by lack of rule of law.

You listened.

But two years down the line, things are getting worse.

You said media regulators have to remain neutral. But in my country, regulators do the politicians' bidding.

Indices on media freedom in the region are plunging.

In my personal experience, there is even a company from an EU member state which feels free to make threats against my staff in Kosovo.

There is a climate of impunity for people who harass reporters.

Bullying aside, economic forces are also killing independent media.

If the trend goes on, a few years from now you will see left alive only those papers or broadcasters who are loyal to the ruling elite or to big business.

Meanwhile, our top politicians keep coming to Brussels. You keep shaking their hands and smiling for photos.

I'm sorry, but you are not making them better democrats. You are giving them a free ride.

Dear Mr Fuele,

We all know the road to normality for Kosovo will be long. You are not responsible for all our problems. You certainly did not create them.

But perhaps your job as EU enlargement commissioner is for you just a job.

For me, and for many other reporters in my corner of Europe, journalism is much more than a job: It is our life. It is a struggle for our rights and for our children's rights.

So why am I writing anyway?

I am writing because the European Commission has a powerful arsenal of political and financial instruments to improve the situation.

I am writing because you are Czech. You also lived through a difficult transition in your own country. You know what it takes.

Time is running out.

But I am writing because I still hope that Brussels can help save free speech in my homeland.

Agron Bajrami is editor in chief of Koha Ditore, Kosovo's biggest newspaper