On 1 July, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine hosted a meeting of the MFA Council on Human Rights, Gender Equality and Diversity on the topic: “Freedom of expression and the safety of journalists, combating disinformation: international cooperation and national protection mechanisms”.
The event was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mariana Betsa. The meeting brought together Hilde Haug, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Members of the Parliament of Ukraine, leadership of relevant state authorities, representatives of the media community, human rights organisations, and the diplomatic corps accredited to Ukraine.
The participants of the meeting resolutely condemned the ongoing crimes of the Russian Federation against Ukrainian journalists, media workers and media infrastructure, as well as the systematic suppression of independent journalism in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine through censorship, harassment, unlawful detentions and the imposition of state propaganda.
During the plenary discussion, Hilde Haug, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, emphasised the Organisation’s steadfast support for Ukraine in protecting freedom of expression and the media, as well as combating discrimination and disinformation, notably through the implementation of projects by the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
Opening remarks were also delivered by Olha Herasymiuk, Chair of the National Council of Ukraine for Television and Radio Broadcasting; Jan Braathu, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media; and Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General (via video message). The speakers focused on international standards in the field of protecting media freedom and the safety of journalists in the face of new security challenges.
Following the meeting, the participants reaffirmed their readiness to deepen international and inter-agency cooperation aimed at improving mechanisms for the protection of freedom of expression, supporting independent media, ensuring accountability for crimes committed against media workers, and jointly combating disinformation within the framework of strengthening Ukraine’s democratic resilience.
The meeting of the Council was organised with the support of the Council of Europe project “Supporting the reform of the national minority legal framework and the resilience of national minorities and Roma in Ukraine”.
