The measures stipulated in the Moldova – EU Association Agreement that were to be taken in the mass media sector in June – August this year haven’t been implemented. According to the second quarterly monitoring report compiled by the Association of Independent Press (API), things didn’t change significantly compared with the previous monitoring period, IPN reports.

In a news conference on September 18, API expert Aneta Gonta said that in the monitored period the authorities were to adopt a national strategy for developing the mass media, but this hasn’t been done and the measure has been overdue since the previous quarter. The provisions about the development of the national broadcasting sector and the allocation of financial resources for producing program services haven’t been implemented either.

According to Aneta Gonta, the provision about the access of persons with hearing and visual impairments to TV programs has been applied partially. The TV channels with national coverage were obliged to daily broadcast by a news bulletin in sign language, with synchronous subtitling in the Romanian language for the hearing-impaired ones and with acoustic signal for the visually-impaired ones, as of September 1. “The pace of implementing the National Plan of Action should be accelerated,” stated Aneta Gonta.

The report recommends the authorities to review and supplement the National Plan of Action for implementing the Association Agreement and to accelerate the pace of carrying out the measures aimed at developing the mass media.