Moldovan capital holds celebration of World Press Freedom Day

Chisinau, 03 May /MOLDPRES/ – The World Press Freedom Day was marked by organising several events in Chisinau today.

On this occasion, Centre for Independent Journalism, in collaboration with other media organisations in Moldova, organised a March of Solidarity. The event was aimed at promoting spirit of cohesion among journalists.

During the march, media organisations launched traditional Press Freedom Memorandum in Moldova. Also, during May, a series of public events will be organised, which will focus on topics aimed at mass media in Moldova.

Also, the Press Council of Moldova launched campaign "Press can be responsible. We sign the Code of Ethics!". Through this campaign, editorial staff which have not yet publicly adhered to professional norms are urged to sign the Code of Conduct, thereby confirming their commitment to public accountability.

Also today, on occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, Parliament organised photo exhibition of photographers accredited to Parliament. Event "Parliament in 27 files" includes pictures taken in 2017 – 2018, which capture unusual moments from political life of Moldova, various events and actions which took place in Parliament.

Speaker of Parliament, Andrian Candu, thanked press for work they do. "A free, pluralistic and independent press is an essential component of a democratic society. On parliamentary platform, we set up a working group supported by the Joint European Union Project and the Council of Europe: Promoting mass media freedom and pluralism in Moldova. The representatives of mass media and civil society elaborate legislation for mass media and presented projects are promoted in Parliament," said Andrian Candu.

On occasion of celebration, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, on behalf of the European Union, said it reaffirmed " determination of EU to protect and further promote freedom of opinion and freedom of expression as rights can be exercised anywhere and by anyone based on principles of equality, non – discrimination and universality, by any means of communication, within and beyond our borders."

At the same time, US Ambassador to Moldova, James Pettit, said the United States supports media freedom throughout the world, including Moldova, and will continue to closely prosecute intimidation or repression, and call for judicial independence and prosecution of crimes against journalists. "An independent and pluralistic media environment is essential for efficient functioning of a representative and democratic government. You contribute greatly to Moldova's continuous movement on path of reforms through accountability of elected leaders to voters," said the official.

The initiative to create Press Freedom Days appeared in 1991 at the UNESCO General Conference and was promulgated on 23 December 1993 by the UN General Assembly. The Press Freedom Days are an opportunity to assess current press, highlight problems and challenges facing journalists and remind state institutions of the essential role of the media in a functioning democracy.

According to the European Statistics Office, almost one million people at European Union level were employed as authors, journalists or linguists in 2017, and almost half of them were journalists. Also, data show that number of journalists in EU has increased by 10 per cent (or 38,000) compared to 2012.

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor A. Raileanu)