The Croatian Journalists 'Association (HND) and the Croatian Journalists' Union (SNH) said on Tuesday in a press release that they "regret the decision of the A1 cable operator to cancel the N1 television broadcasting service, which will prevent some citizens from following one of the highest quality and most influential news services in Croatia."

The statement said that it is “particularly problematic” that taking N1 television off the air for A1 subscribers is happening in the run up to the campaign for local elections in May

“HND and SNH cannot go into business matters between the two formerly partnered companies, but they can warn that due to this situation the citizens will be the ones who will be denied timely and accurate information. Relevant media is a precondition for any free society, and restricting access to information in the run-up to elections and in conditions of a pandemic in which candidates’ opportunities to directly access voters is limited narrows the space of democracy and opens up possibilities for manipulation and deception,” the joint statement, signed by 

“We believe that the government, if it really wants to be committed to protecting the free media, should by law prevent business-motivated decisions from jeopardizing the public interest in the way it happened in the case of N1 television,” the statement added.

The statement was signed by two vice-presidents of HND, Goran Gazdek and Branko Mijic, and the head of the SNH, Maja Sever.

(Operating in Croatia as part of United Group are the telecom operator Telemach Hrvatska, as well as television channels and websites Sport Klub and N1, Nova TV, Doma TV, and Dnevnik.hr.)