OSCE and Council of Europe roundtable in Kyiv focussed on media legislation in Ukraine
KYIV, 27 September 2002 - Media legislation in the Ukraine and the country's adherence to European standards was the focus of a roundtable held in Kyiv on 24 September that brought together parliamentarians, government officials, media professionals, international experts and diplomats.
The discussions at the event, which was organized by the Council of Europe, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, concentrated on two pieces of legislation: the Law on Information and on the Procedure of Coverage by the Mass Media of the State Authorities and Local Self-Government.
Mykola Tomenko, Head of the Parliament Committee on Freedom of Expression and Information, stressed in his opening remarks that the media situation in Ukraine was difficult. One of the ways to improve the state of affairs was through amending the current media legislation. This view was shared by several other speakers.
The Council of Europe expert, Helena Jäderblom from Sweden, who reviewed the Law on Information, focused on access to information. "Such access to the State is one of the basic rights of journalists", she stressed.
Regarding the Law on the Procedure of Coverage by the Mass Media of the State Authorities and Local Self-Government, an analysis was prepared by Lene Wendland from Denmark, an expert for the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. In her comments, she pointed out that the law "in its entirety raises very serious doubts about its compliance with international human rights standards on freedom of expression." Ms. Wendland argued that she thought this law should be repealed.
The roundtable, which was hosted by Verhovna Rada (the parliament), also touched upon several other media-related issues, including the general state of freedom of expression, pressure from the authorities on independent media and the still unsolved murder of Ukrainian editor Georgiy Gongadze.