"The Slovenian Association of Journalists (DNS) has launched a new fundraising campaign to help the national news agency STA, to which the government has been refusing to disburse the budget funds defined by law for ten months, bringing it to the brink of insolvency," Croatia's state agency Hina said on Friday.

Donations for the survival of the agency are collected via text messages and direct payments to a special bank account set up for the purpose by the DNS. A similar campaign in the first half of 2021 had already raised more than €274,000.

“The DNS said that through their contributions, donors would help the agency, which is legally tasked with informing the public, to continue its work, for which the state, as its founder, is obliged to provide half of STA’s annual budget,” Hina said.

“By suspending the financing, Janez Jansa’s government, using various unfounded excuses, “is financially wearing down” the agency, which needs assistance to survive,” Hina said, citing a press release the DNS.

“Without the exceptional public support so far, STA wouldn’t exist anymore. By donating, we can preserve it together and once more send a loud and clear message that we will not give away independent and professional journalism,” the DNS said in an unsigned press release.