SKOPJE, 29.12.2017 – Today the Association of Journalists of Macedonia and the Ministry of Interior signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, that will have its main focus on the safety of journalists.
The President of AJM, Naser Selmani said that the Memorandum expresses political will of the Ministry of Interior, and the new Minister to institutionally solve journalists’ problems. “In the past period the main problem of journalists was their security. This agreement shows readiness of both sides for closer cooperation and ending the policy of impunity for violence against journalists,” Selmani said. He added that the Memorandum will allow the preparation of a protocol for reporting from high-risk events that will enable journalists to report from these events without compromising their security.
“We will give great importance to our future cooperation in organizing joint trainings. Members of the police will be trained on the importance and role of the media in a democratic society, that can not function without them being independent. A precondition for this is journalists to feel safe in their mission, which is to accurately and timely inform the citizens,” Selmani said.
The Minister of Interior, Oliver Spasovski, pointed out that this Memorandum will improve the cooperation between the MoI and the AJM, and in future, joint activities such as trainings and joint campaigns will will follow.
“In the past, we witnessed attacks on journalists, something that must not happen in a democratic country. The Ministry of Interior will do everything for media workers to be able to do their job freely and safely. The media is the backbone of every democratic society and they must have the conditions to work freely and safely,” Spasovski said.