Press Releases 2006

Ambassador Ashe Salutes World Press Freedom Day

26 April 2006

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day and US Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe noted the strides Poland has taken in developing a free press since 1989 and the help it is giving Ukraine and Belarus. “May 3 is also Polish Constitution Day, commemorating the 1791 Constitution which was one of the earliest written documents that enumerates the relationship between the government and its people. Poland has provided training for independent journalists from its neighbors and stands as a model in the region.” World Press Freedom Day is an opportunity to remind the world of the importance of protecting the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Without these rights, democracy cannot prevail and development remains unattainable.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs told journalists recently that “In the beginning of the 1990s Poles didn't know whether they would succeed. . . . And the Poles' answer to that was not to turn away from reform and embrace authoritarianism, but to push ahead with reform, and they did so in the early '90s with great concentration, and the results later speak for themselves of massive economic growth, rising standard of living, and gradual stability on a much higher level of national existence, actually.”

There is more information on World Press Freedom Day and press freedom at http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/democracy/rule_of_law/press_freedom.html