European Union's office in Bosnia and Herzegovina condemned the threats that President of Bosnia's Republika Srpska entity Milorad Dodik addressed towards N1 reporter during a press conference on Thursday, calling it the latest incident in a “worrying trend of publicly attacking journalists.”

“The threats made by RS President Milorad Dodik to an N1 journalist yesterday are the latest incident in a worrying trend of publicly attacking journalists as well as attempting to silence critical voices through retrograde legislation. Media freedom is not just a core European value, it is essential for democratic accountability and transparency as well as prosperity,” said the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The condemnation comes a day after Dodik lashed out at N1 reporter in a press conference in Banja Luka, the entity's administrative seat, on Thursday after she asked him a question.

Dodik lashes out at N1: We have a service monitoring you

Among other things, he accused N1 of having an anti-Serb narrative and receiving orders from US Embassy.

He also said there was a “service” monitoring N1's work.

“You work for a salary for another state. Against your own state,” Dodik said as he was leaving the press conference.

EU Delegation recalled that “strengthening the protection of journalists and media freedom is a key priority on the EU path” and called on Dodik to respect their rights.

“We therefore urge RS President Dodik and the RS authorities to fully respect journalists’ rights, as well as reverse recent steps that have a chilling effect on the civic space such as the criminalisation of defamation and the planned ‘foreign agents’ law,” it underlined.