THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
“My position is unequivocally in support of Ukrainians. Like many other countries that went through the war, we, together with the Ukrainian people, are currently experiencing again the pain that has not gone anywhere from our hearts over the years; the trauma of the war is already for the rest of our lives…,” noted the President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and a Croatian media personality, Maja Sever, during a meeting on May 22 in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, with Ukrainian journalists – participants in the international program of professional protection of media workers Journalists in Residence – Kosovo.
The heads of the national unions of journalists of Ukraine and Kosovo – Sergiy Tomilenko and Xhemajl Rexha – took part in the meeting.
On May 23-24, the EFJ annual meeting is held in Pristina.
During the meeting with journalists, Maja Sever highly praised the activity and professionalism of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), whose head, Sergiy Tomilenko, is a member of the EFJ Executive Committee.
She emphasized the importance of free, honest, and courageous journalism.
“Behind every number, photo, and fact, there are specific people, faces, their life stories… Journalists work every day to convey this to their audience. It is important to stay in the profession despite the war and the circumstances,” Maja Sever stressed.
Speaking at the meeting on behalf of Ukrainian media workers, NUJU Secretary Serhii Shevchenko spoke about the achievements of his colleagues in remote professional activities in Pristina. He emphasized, in particular, that this goal of the stay of Ukrainians in the international program is important and thanked its co-organizers for the comprehensive support of workers in the information sphere – colleagues from both Ukraine and Afghanistan (two media workers from the latter country currently have protection in Kosovo, who also communicated with the President of EFJ).
“The way Ukrainians are received in Kosovo is very touching. Hospitality is manifested in everything – from the great work that Kosovar journalists are doing, covering the war in Ukraine and the Kosovar authorities and philanthropists – providing asylum to Ukrainian media workers in Kosovo – to seemingly small things. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo made a surprise for Ukrainians – a cake with images of the flags of Kosovo and Ukraine and the sincere words ‘Welcome to Kosovo,'” Sergiy Tomilenko said. “And they put us, Ukrainians, in a hotel with windows displaying the banner “Free Ukraine!”
All-Ukrainian charity fund Journalistic Initiative, Maryna Loseva
Photo by Serhii Tkachenko
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