SRG: Information and phone numbers for journalist and media support on election day, March 29.

Members of the SRG will be available to journalists in Kula, Bačka Bašta, from where they will cover Sevojno, Lučani, Majdanpek, and Kladovo. For Bor and Knjaževac, the contact person will be in Bor, while in Aranđelovac, the contact will serve that municipality as well as Smederevska Palanka. The goal is for SRG members on the ground that day to provide all types of support, assistance, and advice to media workers in case their safety is threatened or their work is hindered.

Media representatives reporting from the field will also have access to emergency phone lines: ANEM Safe Line 0800 100 115, the emergency phone number of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) 060 688 22 31, and on March 29, journalists can contact the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) at 062 530 337 and 064 941 04 89.

We invite all journalists and media representatives to report any threats, pressure, attacks, and other forms of obstruction to their work and safety to these phone numbers. All information will be communicated and forwarded to the on-duty members of the SRG, who will be in communication with the contact points in the police and prosecutor's offices.

The SRG urges journalists to apply the recommendations and advice of domestic and international journalistic and media organizations during reporting, to be mindful of their own safety and that of their colleagues, and to carry their press credentials.

We also call on journalists to show mutual solidarity, taking into account that several incidents against media representatives were recorded during the previous local elections in Serbia, and that inadequate protection from the relevant authorities was noted.

Journalistic and media associations demand that the relevant authorities ensure the uninterrupted operation of media teams reporting on Sunday, March 29, in all locations where voting is organized, to protect journalists from potential violence, and to refrain from excessive force that has been exhibited at several events over the past year. Conducting elections at any level represents a democratic achievement, and thus media reporting is crucial as these events are of public interest.

The SRG, established in January 2017, comprises representatives from the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, along with six journalistic and media associations – the Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS), the Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), the Media Association (AM), the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), and the Association of Online Media (AOM), as well as the OSCE Mission in Serbia in an observer status.

The project “Improving the System of Prevention and Response Mechanisms in Cases of Threats to the Safety and Lives of Female and Male Journalists in Serbia” is implemented by ANEM in partnership with Insider TV and the Center for the Development of Local Media, with the support of the European Union.

The OSCE Mission in Serbia has supported ANEM's project “24/7 SOS Phone Line for Assistance to Journalists and Other Threatened Media Workers” as part of the EU-funded project “Strengthening Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Serbia.”