Russia and Georgia have both nominated candidates for Europe’s only ombudsman for press freedom, and as a result both have zero chances of success, observers said.
Mikhail Fedotov, secretary of the Union of Journalists, said Tuesday that he had been nominated by the Foreign Ministry as Russia’s candidate for the post at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE.
Oleg Panfilov, the head of the Moscow-based Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations, said he was Georgia’s candidate.
“Yes, it is true. I am the Georgian candidate for that post,” Panfilov told The Moscow Times.
He said he and Fedotov flew to the OSCE’s headquarters in Vienna last week to promote their bids, together with candidates from four other countries. Panfilov refused to speak about details or his chances, citing the ongoing nomination process.
The competing bids are unusual because Panfilov’s institute operates as a human rights organization within the Russian Union of Journalists. Both organizations share the same address on Moscow’s Zubovsky Bulvar.
Panfilov has been a frequent and outspoken critic of the conditions for journalists in Russia. In comparison, the union has toed a more official line.
An ethnic Russian from Tajikistan, Panfilov said he does not have Russian citizenship and received a Georgian passport last September in addition to his Tajik one.
The Vienna-based OSCE representative on media freedom is appointed for a six-year term. The position, which was only created in 1998, is currently held by Hungarian writer Miklos Haraszti, whose term expires next spring.
The representative has a mandate to observe media developments and provide early warning on violations of freedom of expression in all of the organization’s 56 states, ranging from the United States to Kazakhstan.
Haraszti, a former dissident, has regularly criticized Russia for its press freedom record.
Like most other decisions by the OSCE, the appointment of Haraszti’s successor requires a consensus among all 56 OSCE members.
Under such circumstances it is hard to envision Russia accepting a Georgian candidate or vice versa. Relations between both countries have been poor since the war over South Ossetia last summer.
Andrei Richter, a professor of journalism at Moscow State University, said it was prestigious for Moscow to have its own candidate for the post. Asked what a rival bid from Georgia would mean for Russia’s success, he said, “Zero chances for both candidates.”
Apart from Russia and Georgia, Britain, Austria, Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina have forwarded candidates, Panfilov said. A shortlist with three candidates will be published later this week, and a final decision will be made by the end of the year, he said.
A request for comment to the OSCE press office went unanswered Tuesday.
Richter said the OSCE media representative was extremely important because there was no rival, at least in Europe.
“It is the only ombudsman for press freedom in Europe with a mandate to work on Russian territory,” he said.
Moscow has expressed frustration at the OSCE’s frequent criticism, culminating in a statement by President Dmitry Medvedev last month that the organization is addressing “nonessential issues.”