Comments last week by the Foreign Ministry about a media watchdog have certainly raised a few eyebrows. The former accused international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders of lacking objectivity in a preliminary report on media freedom and noted the report would damage Ukraine’s image abroad. The Foreign Ministry even had the temerity to question the reliability of the report by pointing out alleged errors in the watchdog´s assessments. However, it seems it is the ministry that cannot see the word for the trees.
After all, broadcasting frequencies have been taken away from Tvi and 5 Kanal, two of the few channels which strive to provide consistently balanced news coverage of events.  Last week the staff of the Tonis appealed to President Yanukovych by asking him to prevent what it called the raiding of the channel with the full connivance of judicial bodies.
While on 9 August, a tax police investigator from the Crimean directorate of the State Tax Administration issued an order freezing the assets of the opposition Black Sea television and radio company, although this was later denied by the head of the Ukrainian State Tax Administration.
What is clear is that there will be no transparency in government without a free media and it is almost impossible to fight corruption without transparency. Furthermore, at a time of media self-censorship the ministry’s comments are at best irresponsible. And with the local elections just two months away Ukraine will once again come under the careful scrutiny of international media. It is high time that the Foreign Ministry moved away from making servile comments and moved towards taking proactive and helpful actions for the benefit of the image that it claims it is so concerned about.