EFJ condemns attacks on Gruhonjic and Mulliqi

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) on Wednesday expressed solidarity with the Executive Director of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Getoarbe Mulliqi, and journalist and Program Director of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), Dinko Gruhonjic, who have been targeted by smear campaigns in the Serbian tabloids.

“Full solidarity with Mulliqi and Gruhonjic, facing new political labeling and long-standing smear narratives,” the EFJ said in a post on social media platforms. The SafeJournalists regional network also condemned the attacks that followed the publication of an analysis on media reporting about dealing with the past in the Western Balkans authored by Mulliqi and Gruhonjic.

SafeJournalists said in a press release that the campaign began with an article published by the Serbian tabloid Informer under the headline “Dinko and the ‘Siptarska’ journalist supported the blockers and attacked Serbia”, in which the authors were subjected to derogatory, ethnically charged and inflammatory labeling (“Siptarka” is a derogatory and ethnically charged term used in Serbian to refer to an Albanian woman, widely regarded as offensive and often used to demean or stigmatize ethnic Albanians).

“The article portrayed their professional work and research findings as an attack on Serbia, while targeting Mulliqi on the basis of her Albanian ethnic identity and Gruhonjic through political labeling and long-standing smear narratives. The SafeJournalists Network considers the use of ethnic slurs and discriminatory rhetoric against journalists to be unacceptable and dangerous,” the network said.

It emphasized that such reporting not only violates fundamental principles of professional journalism but also contributes to an atmosphere of hostility, intolerance and potential threats to the safety of journalists.

“Particularly concerning is the subsequent public statement issued by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia, in which the Ministry refers to the analysis and, in a particularly negative context, mentions the authors of the analysis by their names. We find it inappropriate for a ministry to publicly single out and question the credibility, motives and professional integrity of individual authors. By emphasizing the identities and previous public engagement of the authors instead of committing to address issues raised in the findings, the Ministry risks contributing to an environment in which journalists and researchers become targets of public pressure and intimidation,” the press