The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) called the discussion about the possible withdrawal of Suspilne from the United News primetime slots, attacks on the independence and effectiveness of the broadcaster on social networks, and proposals to reduce its budget for 2025, a "disturbing situation". This is stated in the statement of the EBU, which Detector Media has received.

"This is an alarming situation that requires an immediate response," the EBU said.

The European Broadcasting Union has offered its mediation in discussing the situation between key stakeholders — Suspilne, the parliament, the government and regulatory authorities. "The EBU is ready to help, support and facilitate such an important dialogue," the statement reads.

EBU also calls Suspilne its very valuable member and reminds that it closely cooperates with the Ukrainian broadcaster, distributing its news to all its partners, providing technical and expert support or supplying the necessary equipment.

On April 25, the head of the supervisory board of the National Public Television and Radio Company of Ukraine (NOTU/Suspilne) Svitlana Ostapa said in a comment to DM that Suspilne could be removed from the evening slots of the United News marathon and leave it with only night and morning broadcasts.

At the same time, People's Deputy of Ukraine Mariana Bezuhla published several posts on her Facebook page, which she dedicated to the feasibility of financing six state channels, and she included Public Broadcasting among the "state" ones. In the post, Bezuhla wrote that "there are as many as 6 (!) state broadcasters, but there are no information armies, which the Russians created for themselves back in 2014" and that "Suspilne, Dim and FreeDom have little coverage and diversify funds". She proposed to leave funding for only one channel, in particular Rada or Suspilne.

Meanwhile the Center for Democracy and Rule of Law, a think-and-act tank that has been working in the Ukrainian public sector since 2005, focusing on developing independent media, civil society and building the rule of law in Ukraine, issued a statement. In it the organization said “we call on representatives of the state authorities to stop undermining the European integration of Ukraine and attacks on the public… We believe that the attack on Suspilne can be perceived as a signal that Ukraine does not share the values of pluralism of opinion, the support of which is an indispensable condition for joining the European Union, as well as affect Ukraine's support in the war with Russia.

Therefore, we urge: stop encroachment on editorial independence by spreading unreliable and false information about the activities of the Public Broadcaster; to ensure the financial stability of the Society for its proper functioning as a source of reliable and unbiased information about current events and the Russian-Ukrainian war; take measures to apply crisis protocols of high-quality public communication as a tool to counter Russian disinformation, in particular, regarding the sphere of activity of public institutions and measures on the most sensitive issues for society.”