PRESS RELEASE

Question: How could you comment on the decision of the European Union to place two Syrian media organizations, newspaper Al-Watan and Cham Press TV channel, on its sanctions list amid the insistent western calls for greater information openness of the Syrian regime?

Answer: To find logic in this EU decision is very difficult indeed. On the one hand, most reports of the Western news services are routinely accompanied by allegations that it is impossible to verify or confirm the information about events taking place in Syria because of supposedly limited access by foreign media to the SAR. On the other hand, they maintain silence on the progress made in terms of the efforts of the Syrians to receive foreign correspondents in the country, although bias and prejudice often permeate their stories. The latest example is the visit to Syria by representatives of the American television channel ABC.

Against this background, especially given the fact that the EU has positioned itself as a global champion of freedom of speech, it comes as a surprise the decision of the EU Council of December 1 to blacklist two Syrian media organizations, newspaper Al-Watan and Cham Press TV channel (earlier, as is known, Syria's first private satellite channel Al-Dunya fell under EU sanctions), which is one of the independent and popular media in Damascus.

In fact, we're again talking about double standards: harsh criticism about the lack of democratic freedoms is accompanied by a clear disregard of manifestations of openness of Damascus, as well as attempts to bar access for Syrian media, particularly from the category of objective and truthful ones, to an international audience.

December 12, 2011