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‘Grotesque’: MFA calls out EU on its feigned press freedom rhetoric and reality

Alexey Zaytsev noted that this situation makes one wonder if the Western colleagues "have at least a grain of sincerity left, and not declarative faith in their own central norms and values"

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The chasm between the lofty rhetoric of Western states about media freedom and the situation in reality is becoming truly grotesque, Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Alexey Zaytsev said Friday.

"During these very days, as if there were no World Press Freedom Day, the EU carries out business-like discussions about the next round of restrictions against Russian media operators and individual Russian journalists in addition to the already imposed massive sanctions and restrictions. Meanwhile, they practically don’t try to hide that effectively the only criteria for inclusion in such lists are holding viewpoints that run counter to the West’s interpretation of global events. Meanwhile, representatives of the so-called leading democracies continue to preach from their lofty podiums about the high ideals of the freedom of press and honest journalism. This sort of chasm between their grandstanding and the real situation is becoming truly grotesque," he said.

Zaytsev noted that this situation makes one wonder if the Western colleagues "have at least a grain of sincerity left, and not declarative faith in their own central norms and values."

The diplomat noted that the UNESCO Secretariat, being a co-organizer of the World Press Freedom Day Global Conference that took place between May 2 and 5 in Uruguay, rejected Russian applications, filed in compliance with all requirements, to host a special session on how major Big Tech influences the work of media, and for speeches by Russian experts within the framework of panel discussions.

Zaytsev also noted that the Russian delegation was unable to arrive on time to the 44th session of the UN General Assembly Committee on Information, which started on May 3 in New York, due to visa delays caused by the American authorities.

"As a result, the speech of the delegation leader, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, was nixed, and the participation of our experts in the work on the Committee’s outcome documents was utterly snafued," the diplomat noted.

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