(Kopie 1)
The candle sponsorship scheme as part of the Leipzig Festival of Lights was successful again in 2022. The Advisory Board “Kuratorium Day of the Peaceful Revolution 1989” had decided that the proceeds should go to the Journalists-in-Residence Programme of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), which is based in Leipzig.
Donations to the Journalists-in-Residence Programme help in many ways to ease the hardship and suffering of these people – and to maintain their ability to work. Some need new equipment, others psychosocial support or the opportunity to meet their colleagues in Poland, Lithuania and other exile countries. Naturally, not all expenses can be covered by the emergency aid budgets provided, among others, by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Free State of Saxony, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, as well as the Government of Kosovo.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine forced millions of people to flee – from Ukraine, but also from Belarus and Russia. Media professionals and media freedom activists receive support from the ECPMF. As part of the emergency aid, the ECPMF has drastically expanded its Journalists-in-Residence Programme and created 15 new places in Leipzig and 20 in Kosovo. Due to compulsory military service, only female journalists and their families are currently arriving from Ukraine. They reported that the Russian invaders are using prepared address lists to deliberately search for journalists, activists and public multipliers.