On Wednesday, May 5th at Hotel Continental in Belgrade, U.S. Ambassador Mary Warlick, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Ambassador Dimitrios Kypreos, and Serbian Minister for Culture Nebojsa Bradic delivered keynote addresses to open the regional media conference on investigative journalism “Dancing with Danger.”

U.S. Embassy Belgrade, in cooperation with local partner Key Connection Media, organized the conference for regional (Montenegro, FYRMacedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia) participants to examine the profession of investigative journalism through a Balkan lens.

Media professionals from the United States (Kent Collins, Chair of Radio-Television Journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism) and Serbia moderated the discussion. The OSCE Mission to Serbia also supported the Conference.

Culture Minister Nebojsa Bradic announced the introduction of a new media strategy in the near future. "Attacks on and threats to freedom of the media must not be tolerated," U.S. Ambassador Mary Warlick said at Dance with Danger, a regional conference on investigative journalism.

The ambassador added that "current and past incidents and crimes against journalists must be seriously investigated and measures taken accordingly."

The role of the government in every democratic country, according to Warlick, is to create conditions for freedom of expression and protect those who exercise this basic right. She stressed that there is no democracy without freedom of the media.

"Investigative journalists in Serbia are exposed to verbal threats and physical assaults while reporting on activities of criminal, violent and extreme forces," the ambassador noted, adding: "Verbal threats are very dangerous, particularly if they are made by organized, extremist groups and must not be ignored."

OSCE Mission to Serbia Head Dimitrios Kypreos said the murder of three Serbian journalists during the period of transition proves that transition is not easy. Bradic said his ministry's media strategy will be unveiled shortly, adding that it will contribute to the development of investigative journalism in the country.