“Protecting journalists in times of war” – ECPMF Managing Director Lutz Kinkel,

The press often performs its professional duties in dangerous conditions, and in times of war, it also works in mortal danger.

An international non-profit organization headquartered in Germany helps the Ukrainian press work in the hottest spot in the world, Borg.expert reports.

The war raging in the heart of Europe brought grief and misery to millions of people. The people of Ukraine suffered genocide committed by the neighboring terrorist state. The defenders of the native land are killed in battles; the civilian population suffers in the temporarily occupied territories and the rear. Those called “soldiers of truth” – journalists – are included in the lists of victims.

Since the fiery spring of 2022, readers of the website of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) began to notice the abbreviation ECPMF (European Center for Press and Media Freedom) more often in publications. As noted by the member of the executive committee of the Center/public and political figure, who was a member of the European Parliament for a long time/documentary filmmaker Rebecca Harms, writers, and journalists protect the country and culture with their pen.

“They report from the front; they write about exile and return, about destruction and reconstruction, about big and small people, about life without electricity and heating, about help for the sake of self-help, and about how people despair during the war, but support each other, and how they sing anti-war songs in their warehouses and basements,” wrote Rebecca Harms, urging the world to help Ukrainian journalists.

I had the opportunity to personally communicate with a German colleague at an international conference in Bratislava (Slovakia), and we exchanged ideas. She is well aware of the situation. She came to Kyiv and visited the NUJU. She knows that many journalists joined the army ranks to defend their country. “If journalists are not fighting at the front, they continue to work. They write while also being in the occupied territories. Many of them are documenting war crimes for this,” says Ms. Harms in her post on the ECPMF website. “Journalists are often the first to enter liberated settlements or places of war crimes. Many have learned during this time to record testimonies as evidence for the court… The task of Ukrainian journalists is also to make the Russian leadership and its accomplices stand before a special international tribunal for this criminal war and countless crimes.”

The press often performs its professional duties in dangerous conditions, and in times of war, it also works in mortal danger. Reporters show the world the atrocities of the occupiers and expose the ruscist propagandists. Masters of the pen and the microphone convey to the world the truth about how Ukrainians fight back against the enemy, how the aggressor tries to destroy the national culture, and the very identity of the freedom-loving people. Therefore, the mass media and their representatives during the war are, as the racist invaders believe, their military goal.

In February, Xhemajl Rexha, the Board Chairperson of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, met in Kyiv with the President of the NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko, NUJU First Secretary Lina Kushch, and other representatives of the partner organization that provides recommendations for participation in the support program. In addition to the Ukrainians, by the way, five colleagues from Afghanistan, who are in danger in their homeland due to their professional activities, have also received asylum in Kosovo.

Glory To Ukraine! is no longer just a popular greeting among media representatives in Kosovo and not just a finalizing phrase used by Kyiv’s friends at the end of their communication. Abroad, these long-suffering words soaked in people’s blood serve as a password combined with the well-known reply – Glory To Heroes! The reply is a conditional response by which people of goodwill distinguish their own from their enemies.

Serhii Shevchenko, Pristina (Kosovo)

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