Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek has said that the government will work with journalists to find solutions to enable them to continue having the possibility to put questions to ministers in St. Mark's Square, where free movement has been temporarily restricted following a shooting on Monday.

A 22-year-old man shot at the government bulding in St. Mark’s Square on Monday morning, seriously wounding a police officer working there as a security guard.

“I believe that as the government we have always been available for comment. The solutions for your work in St. Mark’s Square that we will try to define must take into account your safety and the safety of all other people passing by,” the minister said after a session of the inner cabinet.

She added that a model would be sought with reporters to enable them to continue having the possibility to ask questions but in safe conditions.

Obuljen Korzinek said that following yesterday’s incident she felt safe “just as any one of you.”

“I think that Croatia is a safe country, incidents like this one can always happen… I believe that decisions that we have made will contribute to us feeling safe while doing our job,” she said.

New Electronic Media Act to contain stricter regulations on comments

Obuljen Korzinek said that the bill of amendments to the Electronic Media Act, to be sent to parliament for a first reading in two weeks, would have stricter regulations on comments and precisely define editorial responsibility, not only for news content but also for comments that are published.

On the other hand, social networks are not regulated by media laws, and in that regard, it is very important to report to the police any call for violence and any expression of hate, she said, pointing to the need to promote media literacy and underlining the responsibility of the media in that process.