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On 21 April in Vilnius, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis congratulated the winners and participants of the journalistic competition “EuroMedia 2011” (“EuroMedija 2011”) and emphasized that with the approach of Lithuanian Presidency in the Council of the European Union in 2013 the need for professional journalism on European issues would increase.

“This year Lithuania is particularly visible in the international arena because of chairmanships in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in the Community of Democracies, the European Men's Basketball Championship, and  Lithuania’s efforts to ensure safe nuclear neighborhood. Lithuanian journalists inform the public on these issues, and help them to understand the meaning and benefits of being together with the whole world,” A. Ažubalis said.

The Minister told that a conference dedicated to the safety of journalists would be held in cooperation with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic in early June. He noted that in recent years cases of intimidation, harassment, beatings and even murders of journalists just because they were doing their job properly, were recorded in the world. This year 14 journalists have already been killed in the hot spots of the planet.

“Topics of “hard” security of journalists, relevant in the OSCE region, are rather remote for Lithuania, but we have other problems. In those days, when I worked in mass communication, provision of information to the public was almost a heroic job. Nowadays it seems that the very process of communication is more important than the content. Here there is a danger for the media to turn into an empty barrel, which instead of diving into the deep waters of arguments and impartiality, floats on the yellow surface," - A. Ažubalis noted.

Competition “EuroMedia” is organized by the Lithuanian Journalists Association and the European Commission Representation in Lithuania. At the competition journalists and bloggers presented their works published in 2010 on topics of Europe’s economic recovery, the current EU issues, climate change and energy, importance of the Lisbon Treaty for the citizens, the Year of Voluntary Activities in Europe. The contest was held for the third time, journalists were nominated in seven categories.