The EU Ambassador to Chisinau, Peter Michalko: ‘Any Element that Limits the Press Freedom is a Negative Point in Assessing the Democratic Standards’

The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Chisinau, Peter Michalko, mentioned during the press conference held on 1 March on the occasion of the half-year since he is in office, the key role a free press has in a democratic society. When responding to the questions of the journalists, the European official commented on the Anti-Propaganda Law and on the conflict between the TV channels and the advertising companies suspected of cartel agreements, which ‘is expected to be solved in line with the principles of market freedom’ by the Competition Council. 

Peter Michalko mentioned during his speech, inter alia, the key role a free and independent media has in a democratic society to correctly inform the citizens and highlighted that this role is visible especially during an electoral year. The European official allowed some time to answer to the journalists’ questions. Some of them related to the media.

Thus, the representatives of the RTR Moldova TV channel asked the Ambassador what he thought about the Anti-Propaganda Law and about the last sanctions applied to the broadcaster by the audiovisual regulator. ‘It doesn’t comply with the democratic European standards since the free access to information sources is the most important principle in the European practice’, Peter Michalko stated. In his opinion, the EU countries also face disinformation and propaganda and there are mechanisms fighting against these phenomenon, but ‘those mechanisms fully observe the free access to the information sources’. If the monitoring shows that ‘it’s not information, but disinformation, sanctions are applied according to the law’, Michalko declared.

The EU Ambassador expressed the hope that the new Broadcasting Code will include the European standards on the free access to the information sources.

In addition, Peter Michalko expressed his concern over the notification submitted to the Competition Council by a group of TV channels, among which Jurnal TV, on a possible cartel agreement between two big advertising companies. When asked what he thought about this, the official stated the following: ‘I know that the notification was registered with the Competition Council (CC) and we wait this case to be solved.

Note that CC role in this realm is part of the conditions set forth at point 26 of the Memorandum of Understanding on Macro-Financial Assistance. We expect this case to be solved in line with the principles of market freedom. (...) Conditions need to be provided not only for the big and powerful media actors, but also to the small ones. We monitor what is happening and we wait for results as soon as possible’.

When asked by Jurnal TV if the macro-financial assistance can be questioned or stopped if the Competition Council doesn’t take the necessary measures, the Ambassador answered: ‘Let’s wait the results. Any element that limits the press freedom, including the access to the broadcasting market, is a negative point in assessing the democratic standards, which are also linked to the macro-financial assistance. The Moldovan society should have free access to information and the relevant decision makers should understand this’.

The Ambassador also spoke about the tragic case of the Slovakian journalist – Jan Kuciak, who was killed together with his girlfriend, and stated that the European society is shocked and that citizens wait the investigations of the authorities, which must identify the criminals. In this context, Peter Michalko remembered those present that journalists are the ones who ‘put everything they have on the line of truth, assuming this role to the interest of citizens’ and that without the freedom of media the society cannot be free, and the citizens can be manipulated.