Kosovo's Press Problem: When Free Speech Becomes a National Threat

Kosovo must regulate its media to ensure journalistic integrity and protect national security from disinformation that threatens its fragile democracy and state institutions.

In fragile democracies, media is often seen as both the lifeblood of public discourse and a potential instrument of destabilisation. This paradox has become painfully clear in Kosovo, where the boundaries between free speech, journalistic integrity, and national security are increasingly blurred. The recent tirade by Lirim Mehmetaj, posing as a journalist while launching unsubstantiated, inflammatory attacks on the head of Kosovo’s Intelligence Agency (AKI), is not merely an isolated instance of reckless behaviour. It is emblematic of a larger phenomenon that threatens to undermine the very foundations of Kosovo’s democratic project. His case, and others like it, illustrate the pressing need for the Republic of Kosovo to rethink its approach to media regulation, not as a means of stifling dissent or freedom of speech, but as a way of safeguarding the integrity of its democratic institutions and national security.

The Weaponisation of Free Speech in Young Democracies

Kosovo, like many yo…