Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation and member of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Sergei Ivanenko expressed his hope that the adoption of the amendments on the Russian mass media by PACE would facilitate improvements to the situation in this area.

On Tuesday at a press-conference in Strasbourg Ivanenko noted that PACE had supported two very important amendments prepared by the Liberals Group. One of the amendments issues a "tough political assessment" to the situation with the mass media in Russia, while the second is "instrumental by nature", as it instructs the Monitoring Committee when monitoring countries with regards violations of the norms of the European Convention on Human Rights to pay special attention to the freedom of the press.

According to Sergei Ivanenko, this marks a "serious positive step forward".

Speaking about the developments around the NTV, Ivanenko noted that the problem lies in the fact "that we face a real alternative: either we have at least two points of view on the developments in the country, or we have only one", rather than in the channel itself.

Ivanenko also thinks that Europe and PACE have lost interest to Russia and "are extremely passive, are at a loss at what to do to render assistance to the democratic forces in Russia".

He is certain that a clear position of the European community could lead to an improvement in this situation. "If we exert an influence [on the Russian authorities], we will achieve results," noted Ivanenko.

He also expressed his conviction that the Assembly must implement its functions of "influencing governments", explaining that the positions of PACE and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Council of Europe differ in many aspects at present. In particular, Ivanenko noted that PACE can raise the problem of the broadcasting of Euronews in Russian or the problem of simplifying the visa regime for Russian citizens.

At the press conference Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Group of PACE and representative of the Russian delegation at the Assembly Alexander Shishlov (Yabloko) also noted that the appointment by the Committee for Culture and Education of PACE of special Speaker to implement the monitoring of mass media was a positive step.

Based on Interfax reports.

See also:

PACE expresses its concern over the situation with freedom of speech in
Russia - Press Release April 24, 2001

Vladimir Lukin discussed the problem of the freedom of speech in Russia
with representatives of the European parliament - Press Release April 23, 2001

NTV case