President welcomes Patriarch but not journalists

21.07.2010, 18:14
President welcomes Patriarch but not journalists - фото 1
Yanukovych will interrupt his summer vacation to hold an official meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

yanyk.jpgYanukovych will interrupt his summer vacation to hold an official meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Viktor Tykhonov said that the status of the president's meeting with Kirill would be "official" and Prime Minister Azarov will be present.

A few days earlier Viktor Yanukovych refused to interrupt his vacation in Crimea to meet with the representatives of the global media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders and the head of the organization Jean-Francois Julliard. Mr. Julliard is giving a gloomy assessment of the prospects for improved media freedom in Ukraine. He sees alarming signs in censorship, political pressure, and physical attacks on reporters since Viktor Yanukovych became president this year. It should be noted that Patriarch Kirill has an opposite opinion on changes going on in Ukraine after the recent presidential elections. In his opinion the political situation in Ukraine is more stable now.

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