Va transmitem declaratia presedintelui Comisiei Europene, Jose Manuel Barroso, privind libertatea presei din Romania din timpul declaratiilor de presa comune cu prim ministrul Victor Ponta.
José Manuel Barroso: "Regarding the media issue, first of all let me say one thing – for us the freedom of the media is sacred and the Commission will always defend free and pluralist media in Romania and elsewhere. In fact issues of media pluralism and standards are matters that the Commission has taken up in many different ways across many Member States and indeed when discussing the issue with other partners in the world. So, first point, freedom of media is sacrosanct and the Commission defends this freedom and we have no intention at all to propose the Commission to regulate the media and we will be the first to condemn any attacks on journalists.
When it comes to discuss and to analyse the situation of the judiciary in Romania, we cannot dismiss the fact that we have received complaints by the Constitutional court, by the Superior Counsel of the Magistracy about campaigns orchestrated in the media against the independence of the magistrates – either prosecutors or judges. And so, this is a problem, because this is a problem in terms of independence of the judiciary and we have not prescribed any specific solution for that precisely because we very much respect the freedom of the media, but we believe that we have the duty when preparing the CVM to recognise that this is a problem and that steps should be taken to address it so that we have what is the goal of the Romanian government and the Romanian authorities – independent judiciary and of course that the media continues its role as an independent power as well in Romania. It would be artificial if we speak about the judiciary independence and if we dismiss completely the fact that we are receiving these complaints not only by the way from the Constitutional court or the Superior Counsel of the Magistracy, but also by many individuals and organisations that are calling us about this problem.
I think my answer was completely clear – the freedom of the media is a sacrosanct principle for us. At the same time we have to express our concerns when we receive complaints of orchestrated campaigns in the media to the independence of the judiciary in Romania."
