Writings in Russian have no place on the press cards of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). The respective decision was made by NUJU Secretariat. It was decided that the Russian-language text will be replaced by a French-language one.
“Since the first years of Independence, the inscriptions on the press card have been duplicated in Ukrainian, English, and Russian. Today, the presence of the Russian language on this document causes outrage,” said Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the NUJU. “Therefore, I suggest, while keeping the general design of the card, removing the Russian-language inscription. In Ukraine, we have no reason to issue official documents in Russian. With its insidious war and aggression, Russia has done everything to stop us from looking in its direction.”
“This is a very valid opinion. The Russian language should be removed from the press cards,” said Oleksandr Bryzh, the NUJU secretary/editor-in-chief of the Donbas newspaper. “During the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Russian language was rightfully excluded from the school curriculum. We have to part with this language forever. All the more so, because it was on our initiative that the membership of the Union of Journalists of Russia in the International Federation of Journalists was ceased.
Initially, it was planned to remove the Russian-language texts and leave the Ukrainian and English-language versions. However, several members of the Secretariat, in particular, Olha Kulish, Mykola Semena, Viktor Vesilyk, and Serhii Shevchenko, immediately suggested replacing the Russian inscriptions with French ones, because French is one of the main languages in the European Union and the second official language in the International Federation of Journalists.
“We should be equal to the International and European Federations,” said the member of the Secretariat / Crimean journalist Mykola Semena. “So, I fully support the inclusion of French-language inscriptions in our documents.
Member of the Secretariat Vitalii Holubiev proposed to revise the Statute of the Union in the future, removing the remnants of Soviet terminology.
Therefore, the Secretariat decided to update the press card of the NUJU: to remove the Russian-language inscriptions from the press cards and to use English and French along with Ukrainian as the main languages used by international organizations of journalists. At the same time, the design of the press card will remain traditional.
Those union members who have the old version of the press card can change it at will. Instead, everyone who applies for this document in the future will be issued a press card in an updated format.
NUJU information service
