On April 28, the Congress of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the third largest faction in the European Parliament, adopted a resolution of the European Party of Ukraine regarding the deterioration of the state of freedom of speech in Ukraine.
ALDE supported the initiative of the Ukrainian delegation and obliged the European Commission to introduce monitoring of the state of freedom of speech in Ukraine for the period of presidential and parliamentary elections.
Addressing the delegates of the congress, Mykola Katerynchuk drew the attention of European parliamentarians to the facts of journalists pressure, attempts to seize opposition channels, illegal interference with editorial work, dismissal of journalists, obstruction of professional activity, and the like.
“Already we are witnessing the attempts of the incumbent authorities to fully take control of the country’s media and deprive Ukrainians of the right to the right and democratic choice. Therefore, the European Party begins to formulate a list of enemies of freedom of speech in Ukraine with the subsequent introduction of personal sanctions against them, “Mykola Katerynchuk noted.
Support for the initiative of the European Party of Ukraine called on journalist Savik Shuster in his video address to delegates to the congress. As you know, he was deprived of the right to work in Ukraine in 2016, and his political show “Shuster.Live” was closed on trumped-up charges of non-payment of taxes.
Mykola Katerynchuk: The European Commission will monitor freedom of speech in Ukraine for the period of elections