The European Union allocates to Ukraine a new package of financial support for independent media in the amount of 10 million euros. About this reported EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Maternova during a meeting with journalists.
According to Maternova, active consultations are currently underway regarding the distribution of these funds. Already in the near future, it is planned to allocate 7 million euros, of which two million will be directed to support the activities of the international organization “Reporters without Borders”. This money will go, in particular, to subsidize small media and production projects for journalists who work in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions.
Another three million euros will go to the international media organization Internews — these funds will go to the Media Development Fund and will be used to provide sub-grants to Ukrainian media. Separately, one million euros is provided for the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), which will also provide sub-grants to small and medium-sized newsrooms throughout the country, as well as to finance a number of smaller individual media projects.
The EU ambassador reported that a separate competition for funding in the amount of three million euros specifically for regional mass media and independent journalists is planned to be announced in May 2025. The purpose of this program will be to strengthen regional journalism, which currently works in particularly difficult conditions due to the war.
Katarina Maternova also reminded that since the beginning of the full-scale war in February 2022, the European Union has already provided Ukrainian independent media with financial assistance in the amount of 37 million euros. And in general, since 2017, EU support for the Ukrainian media sector has exceeded 100 million euros.
The ambassador emphasized that assistance to Ukrainian journalism is extremely important today, because the war caused huge losses to the media community. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, 762 crimes against journalists and the media have been recorded. During this time, 132 Ukrainian artists and 93 media representatives who became victims of Russian aggression died.
The European Union continues to systematically support Ukrainian journalists and editors, understanding the critical role of a free and independent press in times of war — to inform society, fight Russian propaganda, and preserve democratic freedoms in Ukraine.
