BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Union condemns attacks against journalists in eastern Ukraine and calls for strict observance of freedom of speech and media by all sides of the Ukrainian conflict, an EU official has stressed.
"We continue to condemn and call for an end to attacks on journalists notably in Eastern Ukraine, including killings and abductions," the official said Wednesday in a statement obtained by RIA Novosti.
The official warned against imposing unjustified limitations on the media.
"We recall [the] importance of freedom of speech and media; any limitations must be in line with international standards, i.e. justified by a threat to other freedoms and allowing for judicial review/appeal," the statement said.
Last week, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) recommended to strip 115 Russian news outlets of accreditation in governmental institutions. An SBU source told RIA Novosti that the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency and all Russian television channels, except for Dozhd, were to lose accreditation.
A media representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has expressed concern over Russians’ deprivation of direct information from Ukrainian governmental offices.
The freedom of Russian media has been violated since the military conflict in eastern Ukraine started in April, 2014. According to the OSCE, a number of international journalists working in Ukraine have been kidnapped, tortured and killed since the start of the conflict.
On Wednesday, three Russian journalists were detained in Kiev. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the detention was a provocative act and a blatant violation of international commitments by Ukraine.
