CHISINAU REJECTS RUSSIA’S ACCUSATIONS CONCERNING DEGRADATION OF MEDIA FREEDOM IN MOLDOVA

The Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration rejected the accusations put forth by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning “the degradation of the situation of mass media freedom in the republic”.

Last week, Deputy Director of the Russian MFA Information and Press Department, Ivan Nechayev, expressed “serious concern about the degradation of the situation with media freedom in Moldova, where many compatriots of the Russian Federation live”.

The Moldovan Ministry stated in its Commentary published on the ministerial website Tuesday that “authoritative international organizations have a different opinion on this matter”.

“Objective assessments by authoritative international organizations testify to serious progress in the field of media freedom in Moldova. Over the past year, we have moved up in the Press Freedom Index and made progress against propaganda. The Reporters Without Borders organization ranked Moldova 40th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index. This is 49 places higher than last year, thanks to the changes initiated by the PAS Government and the improvement of the situation for journalists,” the Moldovan Foreign Ministry stated.