One of the first decisions of Ukraine’s new Cabinet of Ministers was to close their sessions to journalists and stop broadcasting them live.
Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said on Sep. 2 that “the government meetings should not turn into a show” and announced that from now on journalists will not be allowed into the session hall where ministers report on their work to the prime minister and decide on new regulations and decrees. Nor will the sessions be livestreamed on YouTube.
“First, we will work with ministers in a regime adequate for a country in a state of war. After the meeting, we will come out to the press, inform you about approved decisions and answer your questions,” Honcharuk told journalists at the first session, before asking them to leave the room.
At a briefing that followed an hour-long meeting behind closed doors, Honcharuk told journalists it was not a press conference and he would only answer questions concerning the topic of the meeting.
Honcharuk said, however, that access to public offices will be open and that the government plans to open the territory in front of its building, which is now fenced and guarded.
