The board of the Cyprus Union of Journalists has expressed concern over what it describes as a growing trend of government and state officials avoiding questions from the press.

In a statement, the union said the practice of officials either refusing to take questions or failing to respond when questions are posed – a phenomenon it noted that has been expanding in recent times – “offers no service to the public good”.

According to the union, such behaviour undermines transparency, erodes public information and weakens critical scrutiny of public affairs.

“Journalists have a duty to ask questions and officials have an obligation to respond. Both engage in public discourse and are therefore subject to public judgement,” the statement said. “Journalists are judged on the quality of their questions and officials on the content of their answers.”

The board said it censured two recent incidents. In the first, police chief Themistos Arnaoutis on April 16 invited journalists to make statements but refused to answer their questions.

In the second case, following a cabinet meeting on April 21, journalists waited in vain as no official made any statements.

“This may be a first, even though during that session an extremely significant decision was taken regarding the arrival of the FBI in Cyprus,” the union noted. “By avoiding statements, it appears that potentially uncomfortable questions were also avoided.”

Acting on behalf of the journalistic community as a whole, the union called on state and government officials to recognise that journalists are not merely recorders of statements.

Journalists, it added, investigate, question, seek, reflect, wonder and often challenge on behalf of the public, in service of the public interest. Therefore, the statement concluded, allowing the submission of journalistic questions is “non-negotiable”.