Brussels, 12/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 February, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle regretted that the Court of Appeal in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital, had confirmed the withdrawal of the broadcasting licence for the pro-Communist private TV channel, NIT. He felt this sent a negative signal for the media. On his Twitter account, the commissioner said the case relating to the withdrawal of the NIT licence is still the focus of attention given that the media environment in Moldova requires positive signs, not the opposite.
In a press release on 12 February, Füle's spokesman, Peter Stano, said (our translation throughout): “We wish to point out that media freedom is at the core of a democratic society. It implies appropriate relations within the media for the expression of all political opinions, including those of the opposition”. He went on to add that, although the decision on the TV channel NIT may entail action before the Supreme Court of Justice - a proposal made by his representatives - “this affair gives rise to questions on the general environment in the country in which the media operate”.
Stano went on to add that the EU is concerned by the way in which the appeal against withdrawal of the licence was dealt with, since the Council's decision on audiovisual coordination over ten months ago. “This sends a negative signal and underlines the importance of the on-going reform of the Moldovan justice system”, he explained.
The EU calls on the Moldovan authorities, “including the audiovisual coordination council”, to take this into account during decision-making on the other requests for licences, including from Moldnews, the spokesman said.
Moldova dropped two places, from 53rdto 55th, in the freedom of the press classification in 2012. (CG/transl.jl)