IMI director: Travel ban for journalists stigmatizes the entire media community

IMI director Oksana Romaniuk. Photo by Hanna Chabarai

The Director of the Institute of Mass Information, Oksana Romaniuk, believes that the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications (MCSC) suspending the issue of permits to travel abroad to media professionals risks to stigmatize all representatives of the media community.

This is how she commented on the MCSC decision to stop issuing letters to the State Border Service (SBS) assisting artists and media workers eligible for the draft to travel abroad, which will be in effect starting March 3.

“According to my information, several hundred artists and less than ten journalists left and did not come back over the past year. Yet the wording in the MCSC press release risks to stigmatize of all representatives of the media community,” Oksana Romaniuk said.

She pointed out that the release on the MCSC website does not even provide an approximate date for the resumption of travel: it only states that the suspension is effective starting March 3 and will last “until the issue are addressed.”

“This raises serious concerns both about the possible duration of the restrictions and about the potential new terms. The MCSC should have held public consultations before making such radical decisions, especially since the Ministry has a newly created expert council designed specifically for such cases,” she said.

The IMI director called on the Ministry to publicly discuss the amendments to the border crossing regulations for media workers.

“It would be reasonable to hold a public discussion of the amendments or at least to officially explain the issue and possible ways to solve it,” she said.

Previously

The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications (MCSC) will stop issuing letters to the State Border Service (SBS) assisting artists and media workers eligible for the draft to travel abroad. The decision will be in effect starting March 3 and until the regulatory and legal aspects of the issue are addressed.

On December 22, 2023, Channel 24 journalist and presenter Oleksiy Pechiy announced that he had decided not to go back to Ukraine after a business trip to a EU summit in Brussels. He explained his decision to stay in Europe, alleging that Ukraine could use more “horizontal communication with Western society” and decided to establish this horizontal communication after the EU summit.

Channel 24 stated that Oleksiy “decided to flee the country”. Pechiy’s decision was condemned by his colleagues.

The then Ministry of Culture and Information Policy condemned Oleksiy Pechyi’s actions, saying that he had violated the law.

Following the incident with stand-up comedian Andriy Shchehel, who traveled to Turkiye as part of a group with a temporary permit and remained there, having received three conscription notices, the MCIP submitted a stricter procedure for obtaining permits for temporary travel abroad for men of draft age for government approval.

The TVORCHI band expressed concern on Instagram that the travel rules amendments for artists will make them unable to perform in Nairobi at the invitation of USAID or on a Eurovision promotional tour.