European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero said on Tuesday that the EU expects Serbia to create an environment allowing freedom of expression and the media.

Asked by N1 European affairs correspondent Nikola Radisic to comment the fact that N1 and Nova S replaced their programming with black screens and the words Darkness in Serbia without free media, Pisonero said that for the EU freedom of expression, media freedom and media pluralism are key pillar to any democratic society and must be upheld.

“We expect Serbia to create an enabling environment in which media freedom and media expression can be exercised without hindrance. And for our part it’s also clear that we expect Serbia to implement immediately the action plan that it presented on media strategy without further delays,” Pisonero said.