Moldova has backtracked with regard to media freedom over the past year – foreign diplomats

The Embassies and International Organisations accredited in Chisinau reiterate the importance of unfettered and vibrant media for the development of a democratic, free and open society. According to the diplomats, a functioning democracy is unimaginable without a pluralistic media landscape, without a genuinely free and independent press and without the possibility that all citizens may exercise their rights to freedom of expression and access to information. In a joint statement made on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, marked on May 3, the diplomatic missions recall once again the various commitments and promises undertaken by the Moldova in and under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe, the EU–Moldova Action Plan and the United States’ Millennium Challenge Programme. “We attach great importance to these values. We therefore deeply regret that limited progress has been achieved over the past year in implementing them in practice. Indeed, Moldova has actually backtracked over the past year, raising concern over the seriousness of its commitment to a free press”, the statement says. The statement’s signers commend Moldova for the progress achieved in improving the larger legal framework with regard to media freedom, and in particular note its adoption of new broadcasting code, remaining, however, mindful that recent missteps in implementation of the legislation might put these achievements in jeopardy. In the context, the foreign diplomats warn that the hasty and non-transparent reorganisation of Radio Antena-C and Euro TV, the interruption of Antena-C’s broadcasting signal during the reorganisation process and the detention of peaceful protestors and journalists on 27 March in Chisinau mark a worrisome negative trend. Furthermore, Teleradio Moldova has still, many years on, made little progress towards becoming a truly independent public-service broadcaster. The statement’s signers say that without a correction in this trend, Moldova may not be able to meet its international obligations and urge the concerned bodies of the Republic of Moldova, including the Audiovisual Co-ordination Council to take all necessary steps to reverse this trend and to ensure that real progress is achieved in supporting the development of a free, independent and pluralistic media landscape in Moldova. The joint statement is signed by the Embassies of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Turkey, the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and North Ireland, the USA, EU Special Representative for Moldova, Delegation of the European Commission in Moldova, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and OSCE Mission to Moldova.