As the EU plans for enlargement, it will be imperative that the European Commission remains ruthless in ensuring that candidate countries abide to the newly enshrined European Media Freedom Act. Otherwise, there is a real risk of bringing in countries that will defy the integrity of the European Union. Alignment with the Act must become a vital pre-condition for membership negotiations, writes Antoinette Nikolova, Director of the Balkan Free Media Initiative, a Brussels-based organisation that monitors, campaigns and advocates for free and independent media in the Balkan region.