The European Federation of Journalists calls for urgent oversight over the sale of the media to Alpac Capital

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), together with the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) and Article 19 Europe, today sent a letter to the European Media Services Board (Media Board) to reiterate their serious concerns regarding the proposed sale of Adria News Network (ANN) to Alpac Capital/European Future Media Investment. At the same time, they officially requested urgent regulatory oversight in line with applicable European standards relating to media transparency, competition and media pluralism, the portal reports. Nova.rs.

As stated in the EFJ statement, current events with the replacement of editorial directors "rekindle concerns about the possible impact on editorial independence", emphasizing that "the opinion of the Media Services Board would be very useful" on this issue.

The EFJ recalled the company's history of non-transparent financing and non-compliance with regulations during the acquisition of the Euronews TV channel in 2022, which, they say, was partially financed with funds linked to the Hungarian state and individuals close to Viktor Orban's government, and said that full transparency is urgently needed when it comes to current events.

"The overall impact on media pluralism, editorial independence, public opinion and the internal market cannot be adequately assessed without full disclosure of information on the ultimate beneficial owner and sources of financing behind the offer contained in the Equity Commitment Letter," the statement said.

It is recalled that after the transaction with Euronews, significant staff reduction measures were implemented, which led to the departure of more than half (175 out of 370), as well as the relocation of the company's headquarters from Lyon to Belgium. The EFJ points out that in conditions of increased political pressure in the region, recent layoffs, such as those affecting Katja Šeruga (Director and Editor-in-Chief of N1 Slovenia) and Igor Božić (Editor-in-Chief of the news program N1 Serbia), send a worrying message to media professionals, who have repeatedly expressed fears for editorial independence and their future in newsrooms.

"According to available information, Pedro Vargas Santos David, owner of the company 'Alpac Capital', has been registered as the new director of companies related to the media N1, TV Nova, Nova.rs, Radar and Danas. Moreover, 'Alpac Capital' already owns Euronews, which claims to have a monthly television audience of 150 million viewers across the EU. The merger of the audience that ANN has in the Western Balkans would create an even larger cross-border business entity, giving the company significant potential to influence public opinion in the internal market and potentially limit citizens' access to pluralistic and independent information," the statement reads.

It is added that the EFJ already announced in a previous report that the sale of ANN by United Group was only the first step in a broader process of divestiture of media assets, and that the sale of Nova TV Bulgaria was confirmed in July, for which three different offers were received - from Newsmax, Gemcorp and Antenna Group.

The EFJ announced that, on behalf of its members from the region, together with the organizations "Article 19 Europe" and BFMI, it has today sent a letter to the European Media Services Board, the European Commission and the competent national regulatory authorities, calling on them to closely monitor the developments within the "Adria News Network", assess their potential impact on editorial independence and media pluralism in accordance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), and to ensure strict oversight, full transparency regarding ownership and binding mechanisms to protect media freedom.

"Journalists are not assets that are transferred from one owner to another along with the company, and editorial offices must not become instruments of political or commercial interests. We call on the media regulatory body to conduct an urgent review to prevent the harmful impact of media concentration. We remain at the disposal of the ad hoc expert group to provide any necessary assistance. Media pluralism, editorial independence and the labor rights of professional media workers are at stake," concludes the statement signed by EFJ President Maja Sever.