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By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell book
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UN Gate, Nov 9 – As the United Nations after a year of failing on Ukraine and covering up sexual abuses from the DR Congo to Colombia gears up for its annual UNGA Week this month, it has tried to further limit access and coverage by independent press. 

Will this continue under incoming PGA Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary? On September 15, 2022 Inner City Press wrote to members including his "Special Assistant" Adel Hriczu - despite claims of transparency, as of November 8 no response or action: "As a journalist who has reported on the United Nations and its work for more than ten years, and who today was allowed to question the IMF but was not (yet?) allowed back into the UN, I am writing to you as deputy chef de cabinet of the Office of President of the General Assembly to formally ask that you ensure that my application, a week ago, to UN MALU to cover next week's UNGA week is approved, on Sept 16."

   Still now in November, nothing.

In fact, Korosi went so far, contrary to his claims of transparency, to block Inner City Press from his account (@Csaba_Korosi_) on Twitter, see here. After Inner City Press reported this, Korosi's spokesperson replied that Korosi was "in back to back meetings, but I will follow up with him tomorrow."

  24 hours later, no explanation, and Inner City Press is still blocked. It wrote to the UN PGA spokesperson, who tried on access more generally to say that the President of the General Assembly, ostensibly the highest UN official, is entirely dependent on (or can hide behind) Under Secretary General Melissa Fleming, who bragged that on social media platforms, "we" (the UN) "own the science." Inner City Press has asked that Korosi himself answer: "On 2, it is the President of the General Assembly's duty to ensure fair media access to cover the GA and its Committees - even a PGA who presumptively blocks Press from his Twitter account. As to access to the GA, it is his role as President to ensure it. It is a buck that cannot legitimately be passed - while not necessary to the argument, under the UN Charter the PGA is not subordinate to the Secretariat, so cannot legitimately hide behind it."

A day later, after publication of the above, the block was listed but no explanation offered, only this from the spokesperson: " Hi Matthew, whatever the issue was with Twitter, it has been resolved." No explanation for the blocking, nor for the buck-passing on press access to report on the UN General Assembly. We will not rest.

 There was also a partial answer, partially appreciated, by spokesperson Paulina Kubiak to a Press question about Guterres' proposed Haiti budget submitted to UNGA's Fifth (Budget) Committee and a document on its Program with a dead link - more on that to follow, as well as on Korosi's November 11 meeting about the UNGA "Veto Initiative" which is apparently entirely closed, and which because Inner City Press is banned from the building it cannot stake out to ask participants if they wish to talk about it.

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