THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
Telling as many people as possible about the Journalists’ Solidarity Centres, turning to bank and cultural foundations for support, bringing Italian journalists together for an evening in aid of Ukrainian media — these were the proposals with which Italian journalist Anna Del Freo joined the founding meeting of NUJU’s International Advisory Council of Journalists’ Solidarity Centres, becoming one of its founders. This is the second article in a series about the Council’s founders — respected partners of NUJU and friends of Ukrainian journalists.
Del Freo sees the Council’s role above all in representation. “We must be ambassadors of this network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centres, because they are very, very important for our colleagues in Ukraine and for our profession,” she stressed at the founding meeting of the Council, held on 24 August, Ukraine’s Independence Day. In her view, the Ukrainian experience is already reaching beyond the country: “I know that they are becoming a model. Even in Gaza, some colleagues tried to build similar structures.”
The journalist opened her remarks with a recollection of her trip to Ukraine during the war. “I was in Ukraine during the war, and I was able to visit these Journalists’ Solidarity Centres. It made a great impression on me. And I spoke with Ukrainian colleagues,” she said.
The proposals Anna brought to the meeting come down to two directions. “The first is for as many people as possible to learn about this model, about the Solidarity Centres — to present the network everywhere we can. The second is to find funds for the Centres,” she explained. Ahead of the meeting she had discussed a specific idea with another Council member, Andrea Roth: approaching charitable foundations. According to Del Freo, there are large banks that run foundations, including cultural ones. “We can try to reach them, explain what the Solidarity Centres are, and make them understand how important it is for a country at war to have journalism,” she said.
The Italian journalist also shared a plan of her own. A colleague from Il Sole 24 Ore, the newspaper where Del Freo worked for many years, has contacts among Rotary Club members, and together they are considering an evening event with Italian journalists and experts on Ukraine, to present the Centres and raise funds. “It’s just an idea, and I hope for the best,” she added.
The most personal moment of her remarks was a recollection of her first trip to Ukraine. Del Freo recalled that her parents had lived through the Second World War, and described hearing an air-raid siren for the first time in Ivano-Frankivsk: “At night, at five in the morning, I heard the siren. It was a shock, a real shock. And I understood what Ukrainians feel every night — for years.”
The Italian journalist who brought Ukrainian stories to Europe
Anna Del Freo is an experienced Italian journalist who worked for many years at the leading business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. An equally significant part of her biography is her trade-union work: for a long time she was active in the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), and today she is Vice-President of the Lombardy Association of Journalists. It was through this network — the EFJ, whose governing bodies also include NUJU head Serhii Tomilenko — that her cooperation with the Union grew closer.
In September 2023, Del Freo came to Ukraine at NUJU’s invitation, met journalists in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and other cities, and visited the Journalists’ Solidarity Centres. Together with Serhii Tomilenko, she attended NUJU’s exhibition “Executed Free Speech” at the Museum of the Second World War, where she learned the stories of Ukrainian media workers. “In the European Federation of Journalists, we often discuss the safety of media workers. But only after coming to Ukraine did I truly understand what stands behind that word,” she said at the time. Del Freo also conveyed words of support on behalf of EFJ President Maja Sever.
At that time she also formulated a thought she has repeated to European colleagues ever since: in wartime, journalists become the first witnesses of important events, and it is essential that they can convey this information not only to the audience in their own country but also to the world. “Talking with journalists in the Ivano-Frankivsk Region, the Chernihiv Region and in Kyiv, I realised that these are people who never give up. I am amazed at the conditions in which you work,” the journalist said. She wrote about what she had seen in her newspaper, Il Sole 24 Ore.
This phrase later grew into several concrete events. In March 2026, a NUJU photo exhibition titled “Ukraine: Journalists in War Zones” — eighteen images of those who document the war — opened in Milan at the Lombardy Association of Journalists. Del Freo was the organiser of the Milan programme, and the event gathered more than a hundred Italian media workers. During it, Serhii Tomilenko handed the NUJU flag to the President of the Lombardy Association of Journalists, Paolo Perucchini.
NUJU officially presented the International Advisory Council of Journalists’ Solidarity Centres on 24 August 2026. The Council brings together international experts in press freedom, the safety of journalists, and media resilience and development. It works on a voluntary basis, holds no governing powers, and helps NUJU assess new threats, develop the JSC network, and connect the needs of Ukrainian newsrooms with international expertise and support.
The founding members of the Council are Randi S. Øgrey (Norway), Mogens Schmidt (Denmark), Ruth Kronenburg (the Netherlands), Tine Johansen (Denmark), Andrea Roth (Germany) and Anna Del Freo (Italy). Jennifer Moreau (Canada) has also been invited to take part.
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine created the nationwide network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centres in April 2022 with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists; UNESCO is a key partner of the network. NUJU now coordinates seven Centres — in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. From the start of the network’s work to July 2026, the Centres processed more than 10,000 requests for help: protective equipment for temporary use, emergency payments, legal and psychological consultations, and support for regional media.
Discussion about this post