The OSCE Informal Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists highlighted the dangers journalists are facing due to continued Russia’s aggression against Ukraine
On 4 May 2023 in Vienna, at the Permanent Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) the informal OSCE Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists, composed of 16 participating States, including Lithuania, delivered a Joint Statement in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the World Press Freedom Day that was marked on 3 May.
In its statement, the Group of Friends stressed that “when peace and security come under threat, so does media freedom and democracy. And when media freedom and democracy are threatened, so is peace and security. “
The group highlighted the dangers and risk journalists are facing throughout the region due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The continued aggression against Ukraine has first and foremost led directly to the deaths of journalists and other media actors. It also deepened Kremlin’s censorship and suppression of media freedom, enabled relentless state-sponsored disinformation campaign, and further actions to silence journalists and other media actors, including the detention of Russian and foreign journalists.
The members of the Group of Friends urgently called on Russia to immediately end its attacks on independent media and to release all detained for exercising their rights and freedom of expression.
The statement delivered on behalf of the informal OSCE Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists, composed of 16 participating States (Austria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States), can be read here.
