Call of photojournalists from Inquam to the prime minister to allow access to photographers at the start of Government meetings: “Limiting access to the press, defining in illiberal regimes”

The photo agency Inquam Photos publicly asked Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan to allow access to photographers at the beginning of the Executive meetings and “return to normality” regarding the events at the Victoria Palace. The public call comes after several requests sent on the official press communication groups of the Government.

“From the position of a photo press agency responsible for informing a significant part of the national public, by illustrating the news published by partner newsrooms, we feel obliged to remind the Prime Minister of Romania that the efforts made by the Government of Romania to stabilize the economic situation are not incompatible with transparency,” says the appeal sent by Inquam Photos to Ilie Bolojan.

Inquam Photos shows that the lack of access to the beginning of the government meeting of the photographers cannot be made up for by the images transmitted only by the photographers employed at the Victoria Palace.

“The activity of photojournalists cannot be replaced by the subjective photo illustration provided by photographers on the government's payroll and passed through the filter of the press office, the limitation of press access being a defining feature of illiberal regimes”, the call of photographers from Inquam Photos also says.

To emphasize the importance of photojournalists' access, Inquam Photos sent its customers photos from the press conference held by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan on Friday in which his image is blurred or foggy.