OSCE Representative On Press To Visit Moscow In July - Secretary General

Teresa Ribeiro, the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), will visit Moscow in July, OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid said on Monday during a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2021) Teresa Ribeiro, the Representative on Freedom of the Media of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), will visit Moscow in July, OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid said on Monday during a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

"We have a very dedicated representative of the freedom of the media, who will be here in July, who is engaging directly with participating states to solve any issues there may be," Schmid said, responding to a question on the February shutdown of three Russian-speaking tv channels in Ukraine.

The secretary general added that freedom of the media, diversity of opinion, pluralism and the free flow of media is "absolutely essential."

Lavrov, in his turn, said that Russia informed Ribeiro about the Ukrainian case, but she had not reacted yet.

In early February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on three TV opposition channels associated with Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the political council of the Opposition Platform - For Life party, who was placed under house arrest in May on suspicions of treason and embezzlement of national resources in Crimea.