Serbian authorities allow Belgian journalist to stay
| Publisher | Reporters Without Borders |
| Publication Date | 19 February 2018 |
| Cite as | Reporters Without Borders, Serbian authorities allow Belgian journalist to stay, 19 February 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8504354.html [accessed 22 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
February 19, 2018
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is pleased to report that, after a great deal of international pressure, the Serbian authorities today extended Belgian journalist Philippe Bertinchamps's residence permit for one year.
Based in Belgrade for many years and reporting for various French-language media, Bertinchamps had been threatened with imminent expulsion.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had launched a major campaign on his behalf, one that had been covered by Serbian, French, Belgian and other European media outlets. This afternoon, the interior ministry finally granted him a one-year temporary visa on the grounds he had given in his application, namely so that he could continue living with his Serbian family.
However, we must not allow this victory to make us forget the harsh realities for independent Serbian journalists, who have to make many sacrifices to keep working and whose situation continues to worsen.
The press conference scheduled for 2 p.m. on 20 February at Belgrade's Medija Centar will therefore go ahead as planned.
Serbia is ranked 66th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
