Statement by Maria Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry
We strongly condemn another act of media-related politicization, incompetence and double standards by the UNESCO Secretariat.
The award of the once prestigious UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize in recognition of an important contribution to the promotion of media independence and freedom of expression has become a farce, slandering countries considered undesirable by the West. On May 3rd the award was presented to La Prensa, a foreign funded newspaper banned in Nicaragua for its anti-government activities. According to the president of the international jury of media professionals, "The Press has faced severe repression... this newspaper is courageously keeping the flame of press freedom alive."
However, as our Nicaraguan friends have pointed out, this "flame" is aimed at destabilizing the country. Outraged by the use of the award as a means of political pressure, the Nicaraguan authorities notified the Director General of their withdrawal from the Organization in view of "unacceptable and inadmissible actions" against Managua.
The indignation of our Nicaraguan partners is understandable. This is not the first time that the Guillermo Cano Award has been used to support anti-government media involved in illegal activities incompatible with professional media standards. In 2022, the prize was awarded to the pro-Western Belarusian Journalists Association which had been banned by Minsk for its complicity in a coup attempt. Russia's candidate, Sputnik editor-in-chief Yelena Chemerisheva, who performed her duties under heavy pressure from the Estonian authorities, was excluded, ignoring the first nominations made by worthy representatives of the media. When the UNESCO Executive Board discussed the renewal of the prize for the next six years in autumn of 2022, the Russian side distanced itself from that decision-making process.
In particular, this year's award will be presented at a closed-door event in Brussels, a closed club meeting with the participation of only a small number of countries. Once again, inclusiveness and pluralism of opinion were abandoned.
The biased approach of the Secretariat is self-evident from its persistent refusal to react to the widespread suppression of Russian media outlets in Western countries and their actual elimination in Ukraine. This is also clear from the silence in the Director General's report on the safety of journalists for 2022-2023 about the deaths of members of Russian media at the hands of the Kiev regime. This approach contradicts the ideals of UNESCO and the principle of neutrality of its international officials enshrined in its Charter. It is simply not enough for Director General Audrey Azoulay to denounce the murder of Russian journalists last March after having spent years ignoring many such acts of bloody violence,.
Russia strongly opposes attempts to use UNESCO's mandate for political purposes. We express our support to our friends in Nicaragua, who have been driven to take these drastic steps as a result of the discriminatory acts of the Secretariat, which is dominated by Westerners. We will partner with like-minded countries to push the Secretariat to respect its commitments to all UNESCO members.