Human Rights Watch has released a report detailing the encroachments on press freedom in four Western Balkan nations: Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, all countries that aspire to join the EU. Journalists in those four countries frequently encounter physical attacks, threats against them and their families, government smear campaigns, costly and time-consuming lawsuits and government manipulation of the media through advertising expenditures. Islamist groups are even threatening journalists in the region with impunity.