Tallinn, 31. oktoober 2022. Eesti Pressinõukogu koos kaheksa riigi pressinõukoguga otsustas reedel peatada liikmelisuse Euroopa sõltumatute pressinõukogude liidus (Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe, AIPCE), et avaldada toetust liidust lahkunud Ukraina ajakirjanduse eneseregulatsiooni organile.

Reedel, 28. oktoobril saatsid Soome, Rootsi, Taani, Norra, Eesti, Iirimaa, Armeenia, Gruusia ja Moldova pressinõukogud AIPCE liikmetele ja koordineerimiskomiteele avalduse, milles nad teatavad, et peatavad oma liikmelisuse AIPCE-s.

Ukraina kolleegid tegid aprillis ettepaneku arvata AIPCE-st välja Venemaa pressinõukogu (avalik pressikaebuste kolleegium) ning kuigi seda arutati aprillis, ei lubanud koordineerimiskomitee liikmete vahel korralikku ja avatud arutelu kuni 21. oktoobril Küprosel toimunud AIPCE peaassambleeni. Ka peaassambleel ei toimunud erapooletut arutelu ega korrektset hääletust meie pakutud kompromissettepanekule peatada ajutiselt Venemaa liikmelisus AIPCE-s. Allakirjutanud pidid kõvasti võitlema, et meie kompromissettepanek üldse hääletusele pandaks.

Ukraina pressinõukogu juhtis oma avalduses tähelepanu, et Venemaa pressinõukogu on juba aastaid vaadanud läbi sõrmede Venemaa meedias hoogu kogunud Ukraina vastase vaenu õhutamisele.

Aruteludes selgus, et Venemaa pressinõukogu ei täida oma rolli sõltumatu eneseregulatsiooni koguna, nagu on ette nähtud AIPCE reeglites. Näiteks on Venemaa pressinõukogu teatanud, et ei menetle sõja kajastamisega seotud kaebusi ega võta ka mingit sõnavabadust toetavat seisukohta. Venemaa pressinõukogu tegutseb Venemaa presidendi stipendiumifondi toetusel.

„Fakt, et Ukraina on väljas ja Venemaa sees, teeb meie jaoks AIPCE tegevuses osalemise võimatuks,“ seisab liikmesuse peatanud 9 pressinõukogu avalduses. „Toetame igati AIPCE deklareeritud eesmärke, et eksisteeriks sõltumatu ajakirjandus ja tugevad pressinõukogud Euroopas. Oleme valmis naasma liitu, kus parimaid tavasid, ideid ja ühiseid väärtusi on võimalik jagada demokraatlikul ja lugupidaval viisil.“ Seni peatavad 9 pressinõukogu oma liikmesuse AIPCEs.

Avalduse esitanud Pressinõukogud taotlesid oma nimede ja logode eemaldamist AIPCE kodulehelt. Ukraina pressinõukogu peatas liikmesuse suvel ja lahkus liidust 21. oktoobril.

Täismahus avaldus:

To AIPCE

Friday, October 28^th, 2022

Dear all,

It is with deep regrets that we have decided to immediately suspend our membership of the AIPCE.

Although it was amazing for those of us who were present in Cyprus to meet with our colleagues and to share thoughts and ideas, we believe that the Russia/Ukraine debate was handled in an unfair and undemocratic manner by the Coordinating Committee.

Our colleagues in Ukraine proposed in April 2022 that the Public Collegium of Press Complaints of Russia should be expelled from the AIPCE. Even though the Committee discussed this proposal in April, no proper and open debate was allowed amongst the members until the General Assembly in Cyprus on October 21, 2022.

This shows a remarkable lack of urgency. A full-scale war in Europe and the new media laws in Russia that prohibit free and independent media is a major issue that should have been dealt with at an earlier stage, as was repeatedly suggested by several AIPCE members.

We believe that the vote for both organizing an extraordinary online meeting in June 2022, and during the Annual meeting in Cyprus on October 21, 2022, were ill-prepared, which led to an unnecessary confrontative discussion which could have been avoided on October 21 at the Cyprus meeting. When we understood that Ukraine would not accept the suggested Russian “downgrade” to associate member, we tried to find an urgent compromise with a softer “temporary suspension” for Russia, which we hoped could save the situation.

But our proposal was met with irritation from the Coordination Committee before the debate – and that spilled over and contaminated the debate when it took place. The Committee chose a selective approach in the debate and the vote to achieve the result of rejecting the Ukrainian proposal. Instead, the Committee should have maintained neutrality and kept in mind the unity of AIPCE. We had to fight hard to even get the proposal up for a vote, which says something about how poorly it was handled from an ethical and democratic perspective.

The fact that Ukraine is out, and Russia is in, makes it impossible for us to be part of AIPCE.  We are in no position to pass judgment on the staff of the Russian Collegium, but in fact, there is no press freedom today and, specifically, no possibility for proper operation of self-regulation in Russia. The whole media sector is used in Putin’s hideous propaganda machinery.

We are all behind AIPCE’s stated goals for an independent press and for solid press councils in Europe. We would like to come back to an alliance where best practise, ideas and common values can be shared in a democratic and respectful way.

From this moment we are suspending our membership of the AIPCE, until our Ukrainian colleagues can join again. The logos and names of our press councils should immediately be removed from the AIPCE website.

/The Press Councils in Armenia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Moldova, Norway and Sweden.

Pressinõukogu