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Thank you Mr. Chair,聽聽

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following participating States that are members of the informal Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists namely Austria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and my own country, Lithuania.聽

First of all we welcome the Representative on Freedom of the Media Mr. Jan Braathu 鈥� dear Jan-聽 to the Permanent Council and thank him for his first report since taking on this role.聽聽聽

We reaffirm our strong support for the autonomous mandate of the Representative on Freedom of the Media, which plays a vital role in monitoring media developments in participating States, providing early warning on violations, and promoting compliance with OSCE commitments.聽

Mr. Chair,聽

We believe there is no genuine security without media freedom, and no media freedom without journalists being able to carry out their work safely. Unfortunately, despite the commitments of participating States, the environment for journalists across the OSCE region is extremely concerning, as they face physical and online violence, legal harassment, including strategic lawsuits against public participation, arbitrary detention, forced disappearance and even death for simply doing their job.聽聽

Russia鈥檚 unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine, with the complicity of Belarus, has directly impacted media freedom and the safety of journalists. As Russia鈥榮 atrocities in Ukraine continue, Reporters Without Borders has recorded that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, nearly 150 journalists have become victims of Russian abuses performing their duties. 13 journalists have been killed by Russian forces. 47 journalists have been injured while reporting as a result of attacks by Russian forces. 19 Ukrainian journalists are currently detained by Russia after being mainly arrested in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories. According to the Moscow Mechanism reports, Russia uses arbitrary detention and threats against journalists in the temporarily occupied territories to intimidate the population and to eliminate activists.聽

In Russia and Belarus, the systematic crackdown on independent media has reached unprecedented levels. This has resulted in the closure of nearly all independent media organizations, leading to a media and information space almost entirely controlled by the state apparatus. At least 38 journalists and media actors are unjustly imprisoned in Russia, part of over 1500 political prisoners. In Belarus, at least 45 journalists and media actors are unjustly imprisoned among more than 1200 political prisoners. Many more journalists and media actors have been forced into exile. We call on both Russia and Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners, including those held by Russia in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.聽

We are increasingly concerned about the deteriorating media freedom situation in other participating States, where journalists are labelled under so-called foreign agent laws and hindered from performing their duties. We urge Georgia to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists who are arbitrarily detained or arrested, and to engage in constructive dialogue with the RFoM and ODIHR to align its laws and actions with OSCE commitments. In Azerbaijan,鈥� there has been an unsettling rise in cases brought against journalists and independent media outlets. We call on Azerbaijan to ensure all citizens鈥� fundamental rights and to provide safe and dignified conditions for detainees in line with its OSCE commitments, including聽 access to health and independent legal services.聽 All those detained for exercising their fundamental rights should be released.聽We also echo the statement by the RFoM on March 27 calling for the swift release of journalists arrested in T眉rkiye while covering demonstrations.聽

Mr. Chair,聽

In this context, the role of the RFoM is more important than ever. We commend the RFoM鈥檚 continued work on the Safety of Journalists by creating a network of National Focal Points, developing guidelines and advising participating states on how to improve the implementation of their commitments from the 2018 Milan Ministerial Council decision. We are pleased to hear that the RFOM is developing a comprehensive capacity-building strategy to ensure that women journalists are able to take part in public debates online and offline without fear of harassment, attacks or violence.聽聽

Mr Chair聽

As pressure on journalists is often an early sign of a broader deterioration of the human rights situation, we also expect the RFOM to fulfil the early warning and rapid response function in cases of serious non-compliance with our shared commitments regarding freedom of expression and media freedom, including with respect to the protection of journalists and other media actors.聽

Thank you very much for listening.