Speaking to FRANCE 24, Vera Jourova, a Vice-President of the European Commission, strongly condemned what Russia says are evacuations of civilians in the Kherson province of southern Ukraine. "I come from Czechoslovakia and this is the old playbook," she told Catherine Nicholson. "The Soviet military invasion of 1968 was presented as brotherly help." Jourova went on to outline efforts to help journalists in Ukraine and to support media freedoms inside the EU. She also reviewed the latest talks between the EU and Poland on the thorny issue of rule of law – a standoff that could in theory lead to Poland losing some of its EU funding.
Asked about the "evacuations" of civilians in Ukraine's Kherson province, Jourova said: "Russia is covering up the reality by lying totally, claiming that this is humanitarian assistance. That is the old playbook. I come from Czechoslovakia and, in 1968, Soviet propaganda said it was providing 'brotherly help', when in fact it was a military invasion. This is also why we are supporting journalists working in the battlefields so that we can get trustworthy information, because Russian propaganda is very successful – maybe not so much in EU member states, but we see more impact in the Arab world and in Africa."
The vice-president of the European Commission also weighed in on the issue of press freedom in Europe: "There are negative trends in a majority of EU member states. There is politicisation; interference of politics in editorial freedom. There is economic pressure. Public service media needs predictability of financing to fulfill its mission. I was in France, speaking to representatives of public service media, and what I heard from them was that it would be good to have a platform at the European level to turn to, when things go wrong in a member state. But we are not introducing censorship. We are not introducing rules for media. We’re introducing rules for the space in which media can work freely."
Finally, asked about Poland, EU Cohesion funding and the rule of law, she said: "Compliance with the EU Charter (of Fundamental Rights) is a general condition. Either compliance is there, or it's not. If it's not, the non-compliance covers the whole amount of money. On top of that, we're negotiating with Poland their access to €35 billion under the EU recovery plan. And here I would really wish to see Poland moving towards fulfilling the condition, because I am absolutely convinced that the Polish people need the support. They are helping Ukrainians; they are in a very difficult economic situation. That's why I really believe there should be a strong interest on the Polish side to clarify and to correct things."
Produced by Isabelle Romero, Sophie Samaille and Perrine Desplats
