Vienna, 31/07/2008
Zinaida Greceanii,
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova
Zinaida Greceanii
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova
1 Piata Marii Adunari Nationale, Government House,
MD-2033 Chisinau
Moldova (Rep.)
Fax: +373 22 242 696
Your Excellency,
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is concerned about the ongoing delay in issuing accreditation to a Romanian correspondent in Moldova.
According to information before SEEMO, on 23 July, Lina Grau, correspondent for the Romanian news agency NewsIn, was denied access to a presidential press conference in Chisinau based on her lack of accreditation. Grau, who holds both Moldovan and Romanian citizenship, applied for accreditation as a journalist on 14 April, presenting both Moldovan and Romanian identification documents when doing so. Over three months later, she has not yet received any response.
According to official documents, accreditation decisions “will be taken within 30 days from the date of presentation of papers and will be finalized by issuing an accreditation card”. Grau has been working as a journalist in Moldova for ten years, and stated that she has never experienced any problems in the past.
SEEMO urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that this issue is quickly resolved, especially given that several other journalists have in the past been denied accreditation in Moldova without reason. SEEMO emphasizes that administrative requirements should never serve to hamper the free flow of news, and must always be dealt with in a transparent manner.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Oliver Vujovic
SEEMO Secretary General