On 29 January Russian journalists were not admitted to a press briefing by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in Kiev, despite applications sent earlier to EU representatives.
Clarifications received from Ms Ashton’s spokesperson through diplomatic channels, stating that the absence of Russian journalists at the briefing was due exclusively to “logistical and security difficulties” which had only made it possible to ensure the presence at the briefing of a “limited number” of media representatives, can hardly be regarded as satisfactory.
We call upon the EU to adopt a more thorough approach to forming the pool of journalists who get access to press conferences given by the heads of EU institutions. We believe that a situation when the Russian public opinion is deprived of possibility to be informed first-hand of assessments by the European Union of current events in Ukraine can hardly be in line with the freedom of press so actively promoted by Brussels.
3 February 2014
