The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners today condemn the drastic annual cuts in funding for the weekly magazine Novosti, the only print media for the Serb minority in Croatia and one of the most respected publications in the country, which is well-known for its critical reporting of the government.
Co-financed by the Croatian public body Council for National Minorities as part of the Programme for Cultural Autonomy of Minorities, Novosti recently had its 2025 budget decreased by 35 percent compared to last year, despite an increase of the Council’s annual budget of 13.3%.
The decision appears to have been politically motivated and driven by demands made by the far-right government coalition partner, Homeland Movement, which included in its election manifesto a pledge to defund the magazine over its writing about the state.
The President of the Council for National Minorities said the reason for the cuts was Novosti’s “previous influence on political developments in the Republic of Croatia,” despite the Council’s budget being “strictly” allocated to the weekly for informative content on “cultural autonomy.” However, as stated by the Novosti editor-in-chief Andrea Radak, the magazine’s editorial position has remained unchanged for years, indicating ulterior motives for the sudden funding cut.
The MFRR expresses serious concern over the blatant politicisation within the Council for National Minorities’ decision-making processes. This is particularly concerning due to the fact that Novosti is the sole national minority media outlet to experience a funding cut this year.
By cutting Novosti’s funding, the Council for National Minorities is not only failing in its constitutional duty to protect minority rights, but is also jeopardising the sustainability of critical journalism. The move directly erodes media pluralism and goes against the MFRR’s recommendations made following its online fact-finding mission to Croatia, which called for constitutional safeguards for the funding and independence of minority media to counter political pressure and ensure a diverse media landscape.
The MFRR consortium today calls on the Council for National Minorities to re-evaluate the significant budget reduction for Novosti and to guarantee the independence of its decision-making processes free from all political agendas. The MFRR also calls on the Council to transparently justify its ‘cultural autonomy’ criterion for awarding grants, which suggests the exclusion of a weekly publication from public interest reporting, allegedly due to potential political influence.
The MFRR will continue to advocate for media pluralism and for stronger protection against political pressure, in an upcoming fact-finding mission from 19-21 May in Zagreb. Meetings with various stakeholders, including Croatian government ministries, media organisations, journalists’ associations, academics, and civil society groups, will allow for in-depth recommendations to remedy the state of press freedom, including stronger protection of media serving national minority communities.
