Croatian press freedom seen as improving…until last week

Michael Hedges October 27, 2008

EU Expansion Commissioner Olli Rehn declared 2009 to be the year of the Balkans last week, a positive signal for Croatia. Two days later an important Croatian newspaper publisher had an unfortunate meeting with a car bomb. Croatia’s Prime Minister vows not to let his country “become another Beirut.”

At about half passed six Thurday evening, newspaper owner Ivo Pukanic was blown to bits in a Zagreb car park. Under his automobile was a stick of C4 explosive. It detonated, possibly remotely, as Pukanic and a colleague approached. 

Ivo Pukanic was no stranger to controversy. And with each hour since he and Nacional marketing director Niko Franjicwere killed theories surrounding the murder have grown, most settling on organized criminals. Almost immediately after the explosion Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader locked down the city, bringing in 250 extra police. 

"We will not allow Croatia to become another Beirut," said Sanader. "Croatia will be even more determined and tough in dealing with organized crime and terror."

Pukanic’s links to organized crime figures have been fodder for Croatia’s tabloid tinged media for a long time. He was in the midst of a divorce. Allegedly Pukanic’s mistress was the wife of reputed crime boss Vlado Brkic.

“This is a dreadful thing that has happened,” said Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) president Zdenko Duka. “It is high time for extensive action against crime.”

In July the HND expelled Ivo Pukanic for writing and publishing a column containing his soon-to-be ex-wife’s medical details. Pukanic responded by withdrawing his publishing company from the journalists association and characterizing it as “drunks, lay-abouts and third-grade reporters.”

Even a failed assassination attempt on Pukanic last April was controversial. One shot was fired. It missed. Then the assassins’ gun jammed. There were no witnesses and questions were raised about Pukanic’s version of the story. He had been given police protection but that ended, on his request, in August.  

The weekly newspaper Nacional has gained a reputation for political reporting and organized crime investigating. Often the two mixed. Pukanic’s company NCL Media Group owns several other newspapers.  One story circulating via Pukanic’s ex-wife suggests he sold his shares in NCL Media in September. Another story widely circulating puts the ex-wife at the heart of the bombing. Rumors and conspiracy theories run rampant in small countries…and large.

Croatian daily newspaper Jutarnji List investigative reporter Dusan Miljus met the business end of baseball bats swung by two assailants last June. Miljus’ beat was organized crime. Last December another Croatian newspaper - Vecernji List – ‘accidentally’ published his ‘obituary’. Those crimes have never been solved.

Reporters sans frontiers (RSF Reporters Without Borders) Press Freedom Index for 2008, released the day before Pukanic’s murder (October 22), indicated Croatia’s slight fall to 45th ranking in the world from 41st in 2007. Croatia ranked 53rd in 2006 and 56th in 2005.

“The reach of organized crime in the Balkans is becoming ever more disturbing,” said RSF in a statement on the murders of Pukanic and Franjic. “They have no hesitation in killing journalists who take too close an interest in their activities. Even if the fight against corruption is above all a matter for the authorities, the press remains one of the main conduits for this fight.”

Other South East European States fared worse in the RSF rankings. Albania is now ranked 79th, an improvement over 87th in 2007 but still the lowest ranking in Europe. Serbia is ranked 64th, better than 67th in 2007.

EU member Bulgaria ranks 59th, the lowest of all EU Member States. “The bad example of Bulgaria… serves as a reminder that universal suffrage, media pluralism and some constitutional guarantees are not enough to ensure effective press freedom,” reads the RSF report. “The climate must also favor the flow of information and expression of opinions.”

EU member Slovenia has fallen sharply in the RSF rankings since the 2005 Press Freedom Index, the year after EU accession. Slovenia’s current 30th ranking - down from 22nd in 2007, 10th in 2006 and 9th in 2005 – remains, however, the best from the former Yugoslav countries. With Greece falling to 31st from 30th, Slovenia today ranks best of all South East European countries.

The other EU Member State in the region, Romania, slipped to 49th ranking from 42nd.

Organized crime in Croatia threatens its accession to the European Union. Speaking to HRT Croatian National Radio the day after the car bomb killed Ivo Pukanic and Niko Franjic, the European Parliaments’ special rapporteur on Croatia Hannes Swoboda bluntly said the murders were “a shock that pushes Croatia back in its ambitions to become a member of the EU.” Two days before (October 21) EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn declared 2009 “the year of the Balkan States,” indicating Croatia’s meeting accession criteria and the possible welcome mat being offered to Serbia.

Internal struggles notwithstanding, the European Commission and the European Parliament are deeply concerned about the hand-in-hand issues of organized crime and corruption. EU Members Bulgaria and Romania have been censured and repeatedly warned about negligence in solving these problems. While the RSF Press Freedom Index is a somewhat subjective ranking, taken with other measures, such as the Freedom House Freedom of the Press ranking, and charting against Transparency Internationals’ Corruption Perception Index, a clear pattern exists. And that pattern shows itself in South East Europe.

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