On November 15, Secretary General of the European Federation of Journalists Ricardo Gutierrez met in Pristina with Ukrainian media workers – participants in the international program entitled Journalists-in-Residence Kosovo, who work remotely in the Balkans during the war. The representative of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Flutura Kusari, the head of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Xhemajl Rexha, took part in this meeting.
The Secretary General of the EFJ announced that during November 15-18, partners of the Platform for the Safety of Journalists of the Council of Europe are visiting Kosovo and Albania to assess the current state of media freedom and protection of journalists in these two countries. He listened to Ukrainian interlocutors, among them were, in particular, Kyiv journalists Serhii Shevchenko, the secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and Olena Solodovnikova, the editor-in-chief of the Force News website.
On behalf of Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the NUJU, the secretary of the creative union conveyed words of gratitude to the management of the EFJ, all international partners and the government of Kosovo for the support of Ukrainian media workers who perform their professional duty during the military trials. Serhii Shevchenko assured that Ukrainian colleagues, working remotely, use this opportunity to actively work on the information front, prepare publications for their editorial offices, participate in live communication with television viewers in Kosovo.
Ricardo Gutierrez, in turn, emphasized the importance of professional solidarity. He expressed his satisfaction with the development of the cooperation between the EFJ and the NUJU – it is, in particular, about the creation and effective functioning of Journalist Solidarity Centers in Ukraine (they are currently operating in a number of regions). The Secretary General of the EFJ also emphasized that the professional protection program implemented in Kosovo has shown its usefulness both for Kyiv and Pristina.
Communication with journalists will help to assess the situation regarding the safety of press workers and media freedom in Kosovo and Albania. At the same time, the main contacts of the members of the mission of the Council of Europe’s Platform on the safety of journalists will be at the levels of governments, legislative and other state bodies. Partner organizations were invited to meetings with prime ministers, ministers, representatives of relevant parliamentary committees, judiciary, local officials, regulatory bodies, public broadcasters, and civil society organizations in the countries they visit.
The mission is aimed at solving such urgent problems as beatings, assaults on journalists, threats to them, impunity for crimes committed against media workers. In general, many aspects of the independence of mass media and public broadcasters will be considered. Partner organizations will publish the results of their mission and provide recommendations to governments and policy makers. The interim results will be announced at press conferences scheduled for November 16 in Pristina and November 18 in Tirana.
NUJU Press Service
