Journalists are important! Congratulations on the Professional holiday

Dear colleagues and friends! Dear family of journalists!

For the third year in a row, Journalist Day is celebrated in the conditions of the full-scale war, which was caused by the armed aggression of the russian federation. In conditions where loud sirens and power outages, explosions as a result of missile attacks, and daily farewells to defenders in the central squares of our cities do not allow any of us, even in the respective rear, to forget for a moment what time we live in.

The time of extremely difficult tests.

Time of incredible losses.

Time of indescribable pain.

And — the time of the formation of a free and invincible Ukrainian nation, equal in the family of European nations, on the political map of the civilized world, free from russian evil.

We have to go through this crucible of trials. We must be united to become stronger.

To win.

All the work of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) in the conditions of a full-scale war is directed in one direction every day — it is helping journalists who are at the front and supporting colleagues who continue to fulfill their socially important and responsible mission in the rear.

Who but the Union should be the first to extend a hand of support to military journalists who document the war crimes of the ruscists (russian invaders) and tell the whole world the truth about the resistance of our defense forces to russian military aggression?

Who but the Union should accumulate all possible resources from international partners in order to support as much as possible local print media in the border, front-line and de-occupied regions – where a fresh, true Ukrainian word is really worth its weight in gold?…

Who but the Union should listen to each colleague and take care of each one – be it help through the network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centers, educational support, or simple human warmth and attention, which are especially valued nowadays, during the war?…

And we do it. We do it every day, and we will do it.

Together, as a single team — from the central office to the primary organization.

The war made us more vulnerable – and at the same time, more invincible, more united. We see grief every day and feel the value of life in a special way every day. And we do – each in his place and to the extent of his own abilities – everything so that life defeats death, good defeats evil, freedom prevails over tyranny. Ukrainian journalists and Ukrainian journalism came out of these trials united, strong, and invincible.

Of course, these days, our first congratulations go to the front lines, to colleagues who defend the independence and territorial integrity of our state with weapons in their hands. Thanks to your daily feat, newspapers and news releases continue to be published in respectively safe regions, events take place, stories fill the news feeds of Internet sites and social networks, and the future generation of journalists are trained.

A low bow to you, colleagues. Our thoughts and our hearts are with you. Everything we can and can do for your support, we will do every day.

Our constant priority is the support of colleagues wearing army shoulder straps. Decent working conditions for press officers are something we will continue to work on. Cars and equipment, which, thanks to the solidarity support of the journalistic community and partners, have already managed to transfer to you on the front lines — this is only the beginning. New meetings are ahead, and our support for our colleagues in shoulder straps will continue until victory itself.

In the future, priority attention will be paid to the release of journalists held in russian captivity. Just the other day, I talked about it with representatives of the Red Cross headquarters and diplomats in Geneva. We will use all possibilities of international pressure to ensure that everyone returns home.

Restoration of the media in the front-line and de-occupied territories is the subject of our special concern. Every international program to support the recovery of Ukraine must contain a media component. Local media is as critical an infrastructure as water pipes, gas pipelines, and power lines. In all communications with international partners and high-ranking domestic officials, we will consistently and steadfastly defend the priority of supporting local media, especially where they are almost the only available and verified source of information, an important indicator of Ukrainian presence, and an integral element of national information security.

A low bow to the veterans of journalism. It is on your shoulders that we, the younger generations of media workers, stand. It is our duty to surround you with attention and care. We appreciate that veteran journalists stand side by side with younger colleagues, authors of digital content, on the information front. Such a unity of generations, a fusion of experience and energy, is the strength of the Union. We will continue to work on replenishing our ranks, rallying different generations of journalists around our common values.

Friends, it is symbolic that on the eve of this year’s Journalist’s Day, the office of the European Federation of Journalists in Brussels decorated our blue-yellow flag. I personally had the opportunity to present it to the President of the EFJ, Maja Sever, during the recent Annual Meeting of the Federation in Pristina. This flag was signed by colleagues from Kharkiv, Izium, Sloviyansk, Kramatorsk, and Kyiv. Now, he will accompany negotiations and meetings at the office of the European Federation of Journalists each time. I am sure the support and solidarity of European colleagues with Ukrainian journalists will only grow stronger. And we will go to victory only together.

Good luck to us, colleagues! Happy Journalist’s Day!

Journalists are important!

Eternal memory to Heroes!

Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!

Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.