A delegation of representatives from the South East European Media Organisation (SEEMO) and the International Press Institute (IPI), along with delegates from the office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, will begin a three-day press freedom mission in Serbia on 1 December 2009.

During the visit, the delegation will meet with Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic and the Justice Ministry's Secretary General, Slobodan Homen, as well as other government officials, representatives of journalists' and publishers' associations and media professionals.

The general situation of media in Serbia is that there continues to be verbal and physical attacks on media professionals, especially in the field of investigative reporting, and legal and administrative measures are often imposed. These issues, as well as the unsolved cases of murders of journalists, are topics high on the agenda.

"An open media environment plays a crucial role in any democratic society. Investigative reporting on corruption and crime and media dedicated to minorities and diversity play an important role in the democratic process. Media professionals should have the right to report freely without any fear for harassment, intimidation and, moreover, without paying with their own lives in certain cases," said SEEMO Secretary General, Oliver Vujovic, who is heading the press freedom mission. He added: "Thanks to the assistance of the OSCE we will have an opportunity to learn about both the positive and negative aspects of the current situation in the Serbian media."

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional media organisation, and a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, new media and news agencies from South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI).

SEEMO is active, according to the geographical position in Europe, in: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Republic of Macedonia / FYROM, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.