B4-0508/94

Resolution on the survival of the Belgrade newspaper Borba

The European Parliament,

A.having regard to its frequent calls for support for freedom of the press in the former Yugoslavia,

B.whereas, for more than ten years, the Belgrade daily newspaper Borba has been an important independent, critical and democratic source of information and still performs this function under extremely difficult conditions,

C.whereas in recent weeks the Belgrade regime's political pressure on Borba has increased enormously; whereas President Milosevic has been able to isolate critical voices more easily because his international standing has been enhanced through the attitude of certain governments,

D.whereas the Belgrade government, as a minority shareholder in Borba's publishers, is now taking legal action to destroy the independence of the newspaper and take control of it,

1.Stresses that it is in the interests of European democrats that freedom of the press and in particular the newspaper Borba, continue to operate unobstructed;

2.Calls on the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States to bring their influence to bear to ensure respect for the independence of Borba;

3.Reiterates and confirms its conviction that the Commission, the Council and the Member States have thus far completely underestimated the role of free information and the non-nationalist media and have failed to support them in any satisfactory way and that generous resources must be made available for this purpose;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the government of the Yugoslav Federation and the editors of Borba in Belgrade.