You are here

Home » In the world » What International Media Outlets Were Accredited in the Election Campaign and Whom MFAEI Refused to Accredit

What International Media Outlets Were Accredited in the Election Campaign and Whom MFAEI Refused to Accredit

21 March 2019
598 reads
În Moldova
During the pre-election campaign, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova (MFAEI) granted 19 accreditations to the foreign journalists, while in three cases their applications for accreditation were rejected. The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) was informed about this by the State Secretary of MFAEI Carolina Perebinos in the response to the IJC’s request for information.

Due to the bans on entering the country imposed on some foreign journalists by the Border Police, the Independent Journalism Center sent a request for information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration to find out how many foreign journalists were accredited in the election campaign, how many accreditation applications were not approved and why. 
According to the response sent by Carolina Perebinos, the State Secretary of the MFAEI, during 24 December 2018 – 25 February 2019 the line ministry accredited journalists from the following foreign media outlets: Ordinea Zilei, TV Tokyo, Associated Press, Nikkei, Tokyo Shimbun, EFE, Reuters, Studio 1+1, Deutschlandfunk, ARD German TV, Rossia Segodnya, Figyelo, TASS, Person and Law, AFP, Foreign Policy, Belsat TV, TVP Telewizja Polska, BBC.

Concurrently, the accreditation applications sent by journalists from two Russian TV networks – Telecanal Rossiya and Pervyi Kanal Rossiya (Channel One Russia, the content of which is broadcast by PRIME in Moldova) and by a Swiss media outlet – SRF, were not approved.
In its letter to IJC the Ministry did not explain why these journalists were not accredited and did not name them, invoking the right to protection of personal data.
Note that on the eve of election, another group of journalists from Russian Federation representing NTV and Rossiya 1 TV channels, were sent back home from the Chisinau Airport, on the ground that they allegedly did not meet the conditions for getting a permission to cross a state border.
Recently, after the Border Police detained two more investigation journalists at the Chisinau Airport, this time Greek ones, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Desir, urged Moldovan Authorities to make it easier for foreign journalists to travel.