United Media, the leading media company in South-East Europe, has announced the signing of a letter of intent on the purchase of 51% shares of the news portal and television from Montenegro - Vijesti. This is a big and important news for all employees of Vijesti, for its viewers and readers and all of those, who are following up close the developments related to media freedoms in the region and Europe, from United Group stated.

According to the letter, as a new shareholder, United Media will be obliged to respect and protect the editorial independence and autonomy of the company Vijesti. Its editor-in-chief will continue to be elected at the proposal of local co-owners as well as the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) - a New York-based investment fund that supports press freedom and has been a minority shareholder in Vijesti since its establishment.

'For almost a decade and a half, the Vijesti system with its three platforms has been exposed, both by monopolists and nationalists, as an existential threat due to its commitment to freedom of expression and professional journalism. We're entering into partnership with United Media with the belief that it will make our media stronger because it places the liberal values and journalism that characterize the Vijesti system, which remains true to those values in the wider space', said one of Vijesti's founders Prof. Dr. Miodrag Perović.

MDIF CEO Harlan Mandel considers this development as a strategic collaboration between the two media companies, which is based on the value of their brands and is rooted in the power of their objective reporting. 'At this point, what we're witnessing is an epidemic of 'captured' media in Europe, where private media are being taken over, while the media market in the Balkans continues to be extremely hard to launch independent media and to do business on the market. In this environment, the co-operation between the two most influential brands in the region, which have been recognized for their independent journalism, is most welcome because it ensures that quality investigative journalism continues to be the center of Vijesti's business model,' Mandel said.

'We've always maintained the opinion that objective and independent journalism is one of the key factors for the development of our society and in that context we appreciate the work done by Vijesti so far and the fact that they have resisted various pressures and managed to do their job professionally. We're very much looking forward to our future partnership and we believe this will ensure the expansion of the media in the upcoming years and that the quality content produced by Vijesti's journalists reaches an even wider audience,' said United Media's Executive Director Aleksandra Subotić.

United Media is the leading media company in South-East Europe operating in 8 countries, whose portfolio contains a total of 55 TV channels (including N1 and Nova TV), the daily lists Danas and Nova and numerous radio stations.

The Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) is a non-profit investment fund that has supported independent media in the region for 25 years and has a minority stake in United Media. Vijesti is considered to be the only independent daily newspaper and independent TV channel in Montenegro, which has proven itself as a credible news source since its establishment.