Simultaneously with the EU-Western Balkans Summit meeting in Sofia, a meeting of the heads of public service media from 12 countries in Southeast Europe was held in Bulgaria’s Pravetz. The invitation for the forum came from the Bulgarian National Radio and was supported by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

"For BNR this is not just a strategic international initiative," Director General of the Bulgarian National Radio, Alexander Velev, said in his welcome greeting. “This is an opportunity to resume the annual meetings of Balkan public service media in order to establish good neighborly relations and closer cooperation in the region.”

The meeting was attended by EBU Director-General Noel Curran, who acknowledged the strong commitment of the institution he represents to the development of South East Europe public service media and expressed hope the forum would contribute to a better understanding of their needs.

"The common goal, as well as the unique perspective that each participant brings, enriches our union the way we are inspired by the motto of the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of EU – "United We Stand Strong,” Curran said at the opening of the discussion. The main goal of public service media should be real news, so that people can trust them. And the main challenges they face are reduction of funds, perceptions that such media were outdated, competition, internet giants and social networks. Still, we can be optimistic; we can exchange experiences and learn from one another, we can unite our voices so the world can hear us."

After all participants received 5 minutes to present themselves, Vojislav Raonic of Montenegro, head of European Funding Projects in support of Public Service Media (PSM) of 6 Western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, for the period 2018 - 2020.

The EBU project, which was presented at the forum is called Empowering Society and will be debated in June in Tirana. Its main objective is to ensure the political and financial independence of public service media of these countries, to help them reform in order to achieve professional standards and economic efficiency, as well as to update and digitize the content of the programs. It is important to recognize the need for public media to define their core values, including universality, independence, dignity, pluralism, responsibility and innovation, and to make clear their core mission of serving the people.

PSM in the Balkans need a quick reform, it became clear during the talks in Pravets. Why is this necessary?

According to the project, in order for these goals to be achieved, strict legislation, stable subsidizing and professional management were required.

English: Alexander Markov