Ms Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, President of Pantovčak 241, 10 000 [email protected]; [email protected]

Mr Tihomir Orešković, Prime Minister, Government of the Republic of Croatia Trg sv. Marka 2, 10000 Zagreb [email protected]

Mr Božo Petrov, Deputy Prime Minister, Government of the Republic of Croatia Trg sv. Marka 2, 10000 Zagreb [email protected]

Mr Željko Reiner, Speaker, Trg sv. Marka 6-7, 10000 Zagreb [email protected]; [email protected]

Mr Andrija Mikulić, President, Committee for Informing, Informatization and Media, Croatian Parliament Trg sv. Marka 6-7, 10000 Zagreb [email protected]

Ms Gordana Rusak, President, Committee for Education, Science and Culture, Croatian Parliament Trg sv. Marka 6-7, 10000 Zagreb [email protected]

Mr. Zlatko Hasanbegović, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Runjaninova 2, 10000 Zagreb [email protected]; [email protected]

Brussels, 11 February 2016

Excellencies,

I write on behalf of the International Federation of Journalists, representing 600,000 journalists worldwide, to invite the Prime Minister of Croatia to review the decisions of his Minister of Culture, Zlatko Hasanbegović and his media policy announcing the abolition of state subsidies for non-profit media.

The IFJ strongly believes that the statement made by the Minister of Culture that 'media and media policy are burdening the work of the Ministry of Culture' is unacceptable in a true democracy and cannot go unchallenged.

We join our colleagues in Croatia in condemning the Minister’s announcement that he will abolish state subsidies for nonprofit media, as well as his dissolution of the Expert Committee for Non-profit Media before the end of his mandate.

International Federation of Journalists, International Press Centre Résidence Palace, Block C, 155 Rue de la Loi, B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 235 2200 Fax: +32 2 235 2219 E-mail: [email protected]

The IFJ is also concerned about the statement made by Tomislav Karamarko, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government and the President of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Moreover, another statement by Parliament and ruling coalition member, Željko Glasnović that 'the lustration of the media the most important, because media are the only barrier to true democracy’, is also troublesome for Croatia’s transitional democracy.

The IFJ respectfully reminds the leaders of Croatia that non-profit media in Croatia arose as an oasis of critical and professional journalism, focusing on topics ignored by most other media outlets, bolstering the freedoms and rights of threatened minority groups, promoting democracy, tolerance, multiculturalism and pluralism. This media is today the main guarantor of investigative journalism in Croatia, which has almost completely vanished from the mainstream media.

Journalists’ organisations are extremely alarmed worldwide about these attacks by members of the Croatian Government and members of the Parliamentary majority on freedom of speech, free journalism and media freedom. The IFJ reminds the leaders of Croatia that freedom of speech, freedom of the press and independent journalism are the safeguards of true democracy.

We call on the Croatian Parliament, on the Speaker of Parliament Željko Reiner, on the President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and on the Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković to stop the undemocratic silencing of journalists and free media.

Yours sincerely

Jim Boumelha President International Federation of Journalists

International Federation of Journalists, International Press Centre Résidence Palace, Block C, 155 Rue de la Loi, B-1040 Brussels Tel: +32 2 235 2200 Fax: +32 2 235 2219 E-mail: [email protected]