Mr. Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, congratulated 3 May, the World Press Freedom Day, to all journalists in Serbia in letters sent to presidents of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) and the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina.

Expressing his best wishes for future success of journalists and the media, the Commissioner reaffirmed his willingness and duty to help them carry out their important social function.

In that regard, Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic also said the following:

"Journalists and the media are increasingly exercising the rights under the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, thus ensuring that the Law serves the purpose of providing information to the general public and democratic public control of government's operations. It is very important that representatives of the Government and state-owned enterprises understand the duties they have towards journalists and the media as representatives of the public and adequately respond to these duties. Improvements are evident in that regard, but there are still many issues and this is why I emphasized on several occasions the need to properly raise the issue of responsibility for violation the rights of the public stipulated by the law.

The proclaimed principles of transparency of operations of the government, including Serbia's efforts to join international initiatives such as the Open Government, must not remain only proclamations. They bind the Government to provide to the public much more pieces of information in the most appropriate manner, proactively, by public presentation of available databases also on the Internet. Although certain improvements have also been achieved in this regard, we cannot be satisfied with the existing level of electronic communication between the Serbian Government and the public; the pace of changes needs to be much faster.

The state must also ensure the journalists' personal safety, which undoubtedly includes the duty to punish all those who threaten their safety. In this regard, it is worth recalling that 19 years since have passed the death of Dada Vujasinovic, 14 years since the death of Slavko Curuvija and 12 years since the death of Milan Pantic, and yet we have not heard the truth, no justice has been served and the public has received no satisfaction. It is paramount that these cases finally be solved. Both for the sake of the past and the future, to provide reassurance that nothing similar must and will never happen again."