European Economic
and Social Committee
European Economic
and Social Committee
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is the voice of organised civil society in Europe.
Find out more about its role and structure at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/about
The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions, evaluation and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens’ participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Find the latest EESC opinions and publications at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions and http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/publications-other-work/publications respectively.
The EESC is active in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economy, energy and sustainability.
Learn more about our policy areas and policy highlights at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/policies
The EESC holds nine plenary sessions per year. It also organises many conferences, public hearings and high-level debates related to its work.
Find out more about our upcoming events at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/upcoming-events
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
Read the latest EESC news http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news and press releases http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
Find out more about our Members and groups at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/members-groups
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
Find out more at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/sections-other-bodies
Meet our Surprise Guest Tikhon Dzyadko in a brief but sharp interview!
EESC info: When did you decide that you could no longer work in Moscow? Was it your decision to leave Russia, or did you not have a choice?
Tikhon Dzyadko: Like many other journalists, we were forced to leave the country. Following the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russian government imposed military censorship. New legislation was adopted meaning you could get up to 15 years in jail for even calling the war by its name, rather than a "special military operation".
So in order not to go to jail and at the same time continue my work as a journalist, I was forced to leave the country.
Where are you working now?
TV Dozhd has three studios in three different locations: in Riga, in Tbilisi and in Amsterdam. I am based in Amsterdam.
How would you describe Russian propaganda?
Russian propaganda is very dangerous because it is organised and controlled by war criminals. Russian propaganda has the face of war criminals. They have been fuelling this war for many years by telling people lies.
What do you expect from the European Union?
I think the EU and its people should understand that there are a lot of Russians who are opposed to this war and support Ukraine and Europe.
What would you like to do in the future and where?
Go back to Moscow and continue working from there.