Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Kazakbaev received representatives of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Corporation headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Fly

On September 13, 2021, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Kazakbaev received representatives of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Corporation headed by President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Fly. The meeting was also attended by the Director of the Kyrgyz service "Azattyk" Venera Zhumatayeva and the Regional Director of the "Azattyk" service in Central Asia Hamid Ismailov.

During the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Kazakbaev noted that, traditionally, Radio Azattyk occupies a special place in the information space of Kyrgyzstan and for many years has remained as a reliable source of news regarding current events happening in the country. In addition, he stressed that despite different opinions regarding the activity of the news agency, it continues to adhere to the basic principles of the free media by continuing to deliver the information honestly, openly and transparently to its audience.

In turn, the Head of Azattyk D. Fly thanked the Minister for the opportunity to meet and noted that the Kyrgyz Republic, having chosen a democratic path of development, plays a special role in the region, providing journalists with conditions to carry out their professional activities freely and unhindered.

D. Fly also expressed gratitude to Minister R. Kazakbaev for the ongoing accreditation of Azattyk journalists from Russia, Tajikistan and other countries and announced his intention to create new information projects, as well as to expand any existing ones in order to cover a wide range of issues that will be of interest to both citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and for the citizens of other countries in the region, in particular, the problems of migration. In addition, he noted that favorable conditions have been created in Kyrgyzstan to make Azattyk's projects not only of national level, but also of a regional one.

In conclusion, Minister R. Kazakbaev noted that the events of 2005, 2010 and 2020 showed that our freedom-loving and multinational people will never stray away of the intended path and that Kyrgyzstan has and continues to remain committed to the principles of democracy and freedom of speech.