Jury president Rade Veljanovski explained that “Witnesses” especially stood out in the competition of 21 submitted entries in all aspects of investigative journalism. He emphasized that the authors succeeded in gathering testimonies about the horrific events in Kosovo during the international conflicts of the 1990s.

“The journalistic piece ‘Witnesses’ treats a very difficult subject in a professional manner and in such a way that the criteria of social relevance, quality, originality, professional engagement and journalist courage are satisfied in the highest degree” stated Veljanovski.

The EU Award for investigative Journalism aims to highlight and promote exceptional achievements by investigative journalists and improve the visibility of quality investigative journalism in Western Balkan countries and Turkey.

The authors were congratulated by Oscar Benedict, deputy chief of the EU delegation in Serbia, and Dubravka Valic Nedeljkovic, president of the managing board of the Novi Sad School of Journalism who also heads the award process in Serbia.

The expert jury that evaluated the entries included B92 journalist Brankica Stankovic, Newsweek editor-in-chief Milorad Ivanovic, Veljanovski who is a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, member of the executive committee of the Independent journalist association of Vojvodina Žužana Serenceš, and Vladimir Barovic, professor at the Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy.

The award is established by the European Commission, DG Enlargement, following the EU Enlargement strategy which recognizes strong need for ensuring freedom of expression in the media, and for support to investigative journalism to monitor the reform processes. The EU Award for Investigative Journalism will be awarded from 2015 to 2017 in each of the seven countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey.