EU allocating EUR 10M for independent media in Ukraine - ambassador
That's according to EU Ambassador in Ukraine Katarína Mathernová, who spoke with journalists on Friday.
“We are now putting on the table a package of EUR 10 million immediately for independent media. The 10 million is composed of contracts, the seven million of which are now being negotiated and should be finalized shortly. EUR 2 million for Reporters Without Borders, specifically subgranting to small media outlets and production support to journalists at risk; EUR 3 million to Internews, for the Media Development Foundation for subgranting, EUR 1 million to the Institute of Mass Information with subgranting to small and medium-sized media, and EUR 1 million for several other smaller projects, including Black Sea Foundation, Docudays, and Culture vs War,” the ambassador explained.
Besides this EUR 7 million, in May, the EU will launch a EUR 3 million call for proposals specifically for regional media and independent journalists, Mathernová added.
The ambassador also revealed that, after a thorough review of the EU contribution to media development in Ukraine, the assessment saw that since 2017, the EU has provided over EUR 100 million to independent media through various initiatives, contracts, subgrants, and partners.
“Part of the reason why it's often not as directly visible is because we don't have a machine that is able to directly run these contracts, so we often work through partners,” the ambassador noted, mentioning such organisations as Internews, Reporters without Borders, European Endowment for Democracy, the Media Development Foundation, and others.
She added that, since February 2022, the EU has disbursed EUR 37 million for independent media in Ukraine, including for Suspilne, which has received over EUR 16 million overall.
On top of that, the EU has ongoing projects for about EUR 20 million currently that have ongoing calls for proposals for direct support to medium and small-sized media outlets and promoting free independent media, of which EUR 8 million has already been used.
Also, there is a running project for independent media, which is worth EUR 1 million, designed for hostile environment training, and a number of other initiatives in the pipeline.
She separately recalled that in he first days of the full-scale invasion, the European Union came out as the first, largest, and most flexible donor on the ground from its own budget to support and sustain media operations of Ukrainian outlets.
“We reprogrammed EUR 200 million that was on the ground into emergency support and everything that then happened with media. We evacuated journalists, we were the ones that financed the center with a newsroom in Pszemysl, where outlets were moving to, and we gave in the first days and weeks dozens of emergency grants to to media, giving a lifeline when others were not even present. I know it because I was then in Brussels actually doing the reprogramming,” Mathernová stressed.
As reported, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on March 10 that the U.S. was officially closing 83% of the programs of its Agency for International Development (USAID).
According to the estimates of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, Vice President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Mykyta Poturaiev, this year due to the termination of U.S. grant support for various programs, 51% of independent Ukrainian media could cease operations, including from 51% to 70% of regional outlets.
