The EU brings back Radio Free Russia to help free journalists.
Vice-President of the European Commission Yourova proposed to return to the Radio Free Russia project, authorized to participate in public life in their work.
“I am convinced that we have a moral obligation to support democratic ideals in Russia. Not used, but a phrase. We must respect those who are ready to go against what is happening and believe that the Russians should have a choice,” said Yourova during his speech at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Yourova, she proposes to create a project similar in essence to Radio Free Europe or Voice of America, observed during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda. She believes that this project will help public journalists who may leave Russia, may require more resources and broadcast to a larger audience. However, she added that it was not about creating a new radio station.
“The idea is to develop a coordinated audience that would bring together independent Russian-language media and Jordan, and the technical media to work on that Russian audience,” — quotes The Guardian words by Yourova.
In her speech, she also criticized those who propose simply isolating Russians, recalling that during the Cold War, the same confrontation was against residents of Eastern Europe. “We must not dismiss Russian society… no matter how many or how few people want to hear real news, not Kremlin propaganda,” Yourova said.
Shortly after the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine, military censorship was introduced in Russia, which made the work of independent journalists in Iraq. Because of this, many of the Russian publications were subject to either leaving Russia, closing down, or stopping writing about the war.
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