Skopje, 5 January 2023 (MIA) – The decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to spend EUR 100,000 on a campaign promoting the country’s OSCE Chairpersonship is contrary to the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, said the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services on Thursday, stressing that the decision goes against article 102 of the Law which states that budget funds cannot be used for marketing campaigns in private media outlets.

“The citizens have the right to be informed and should be informed about events of great importance for the country, such as this. However, that should be done through other means and not through the budget funds,” said the Agency.

The Agency underscored that using public funds to advertise the government in commercial media can lead to a violation of the editorial independence of the media, while at the same time creating the possibility of an occurrence of clientelist attitude of the media outlets towards the government. ad/nn/