The signatory organizations appeal to the LEPL Public Broadcaster to provide active coverage of the issues of EU membership on the basis of the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, Article 16.
Public Broadcaster has a special mission in the European integration process and, therefore, it is desirable to regularly pay due attention to the dissemination of accurate and objective information on the procedures for EU membership in news, socio-political, and entertainment programs.
The Georgian Law on Broadcasting obliges publicly funded organizations to promote, through their editorial policy, Georgia’s key foreign policy areas, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and EU integration. We have expectations that European integration issues will be reflected on all platforms.
On the other hand, it is desirable that the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster expand the recommendations on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration issues in the draft of priorities for 2022-2025.
On March 3, 2022, Georgia applied to join the European Union. Georgia and Moldova’s application for membership in the European Union has been accelerated by Ukraine’s desire to become an EU member in the face of Russian military aggression. The existing exceptional circumstances and simultaneous applications by the three countries – Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, the so-called Association Trio, have raised expectations among the Georgian population for rapid accession to the European Union.
It is not yet known exactly what is meant by the accelerated procedures for EU membership. In order to avoid the erroneous, Eurosceptic attitudes among the population regarding the barriers to membership and the duration of the process, we consider it necessary to actively provide the public with timely and reliable information on the EU accession procedures, duration and mandatory reforms to be implemented by the applicant states.
In the light of the war in Ukraine, we appreciate the efforts of the Public Broadcaster to support the Ukrainian people with the TV marathon “We for Ukraine“. We think this step is an important contribution to the strengthening of European values.
Signatory organizations:
