Last week three journalists of the International News Agency “Rossya Segodnya” were refused the accreditation at the informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Tallinn. No explanation was provided to the journalists. The most concerning fact is that it is the first time when journalists face such restrictions in covering a high-level EU event.

It is worth reminding about the provisions the Communique on the accreditation of foreign journalists for implementing the right to freedom of information of June 8, 2016 No. 4/2016 published by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović:

“Accreditation or official recognition of foreign journalists is a core element of the Helsinki Final Act and other commitments that OSCE participating States have agreed upon. The issue of press accreditation has recently become an increasing concern. Freedom to perform journalistic duties abroad is crucial for strengthening a climate of trust and co-operation within the OSCE region. I have expressed my concern on numerous occasions about abuses of accreditation practices for foreign journalists that have recently become much more frequent”.

This documents also says: “Accreditation should not serve as a tool to control content, restrict the flow of information across borders, or as a sanction in response to alien propaganda”.

We still hope that this case was a regrettable mistake and will not happen again.