Domestic and international journalists’ associations have criticised the ruling Vetëvendosje Movement party for refusing to participate in electoral debates aired by three leading private television broadcasters in Kosovo, Klan Kosova, T7 and TV Dukagjini.

Vetëvendosje, which has been in power since 2021 and is seeking re-election at parliamentary polls on February 9, has not publicly stated its reason for not participating in the debates on the three channels. It is not yet clear whether the party will participate in debates on any other channels.

Jeta Xharra, the director of BIRN Kosovo, who hosts the TV programme ‘Debat Përnime’ on TV Dukagjini, a co-production of BIRN and Internews Kosova, said at the start of her electoral debate programme on Saturday that Vetëvendosje had decided not to participate because it claimed the station was run by oligarchs.

Xharra said that Vetëvendosje was “following the old tradition of parties that were voluble and accessible while in opposition yet became closed-off and unaccountable inside the plush offices of power”.

She pointed out that BIRN and Internews Kosova’s debate programme was “thrown out by the public broadcaster RTK, where we were broadcast for 15 years, because we published an investigation that exposed oligarchs, so to boycott our debates under that pretext is false”.

Faik Ispahiu, director of Internews Kosova, a member of  the International Fact-Checking Network, IFCN, and European Fact-Checking Standards Network, EFCSN, said that Vetëvendosje’s decision to dodge TV debates damages the quality of elections.

“Escaping debates where the content is subjected to fact-check is a setback in Kosovo’s democracy. Historically, Kosovo has been known for fact-based elections debates and this decision represents a step behind,” Ispahiu said.

The European Centre for Press Media and Freedom, ECPMF, and 13 other media freedom organisations from the region have called for Vetëvendosje’s decision to be reversed.

“By boycotting mainstream TV channels, the public’s right to information and the essential role of journalists in promoting transparency and accountability is undermined,” they said in an open letter to Prime Minister Albim Kurti on Friday, alleging that under four years of Kurti’s Vetevendosje-led government, media freedom had deteriorated.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, expressed concern over “the warning of a boycott of some of the main television stations in the country, such as Klan Kosova, TV Dukagjini and T7, by the ruling party.

“It is imperative that the media be allowed to equally present the programmes of all political entities running for office, as their work serves the public interest. The announced boycott constitutes a deliberate attack on media pluralism – a cornerstone of Kosovo’s democracy – and is part of an ongoing series of actions by this government and the Vetëvendosje Movement targeting journalists and media organisations,” the AJK said in a statement on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Leonard Kerquki, director of T7, announced on Facebook that “officials from Vetëvendosje informed me that they will not participate in T7 TV programmes during the election campaign. I cannot share the reason why because I did not understand it. For me, this is not a boycott, but an escape from a confrontation over [its] four-year governance.”

BIRN approached Vetëvendosje’s spokesperson for comment but received no reply by the time of publication.