From 4 to 6 November, a coalition of international media freedom and journalist organisations will travel to Hungary to learn about the ongoing media reform under the Tisza government and provide expert recommendations for rebuilding press freedom after years of backsliding. The three-day fact-finding mission to Budapest is led by partners of the Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). The delegation of 13 organisations will meet editors, journalists, media organisations, and civil society groups, as well as with the new Hungarian government, relevant ministries, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders responsible…

The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) and Safe Journalists Network (SJN) ahead of the parliamentary elections on 25 October are alarmed by the spiral of violence against journalists and by the overall situation surrounding media freedom. We call on the Serbian authorities to guarantee the safety of media workers during the electoral period. All attacks must be thoroughly investigated and their perpetrators held accountable. Political figures, including state officials, must stop targeting media professionals. On 25 October, Serbian citizens will vote in the extraordinary parliamentary elections. MFRR and SJN partners reiterate that there cannot be free…

To Dejan Kocić, Chief Executive Officer, United Cloud (Copied to the management of Alpac Capital) Dear Mr Kocić, The undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) are deeply concerned by reports that Nova.rs’s existing editorial team could lose access to the system it uses to publish and manage its journalism. We urge United Cloud to clarify its involvement immediately and refrain from implementing changes that would disable or suppress the newsroom’s independent reporting, both ahead of the upcoming election or after the vote. We support the multiple concerns raised by Serbian journalists’ associations, media organisations and trade unions…

In recent weeks, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has documented more than ten cases of violence and obstruction of press freedom targeting journalists covering student and high school protests in France. More than half of these incidents are attributable to law enforcement officers. Once again, our conclusion is unequivocal: media professionals, even when clearly identified as such, are not safe in the field. The EFJ strongly condemns this violence and calls on the competent authorities to identify and sanction those responsible, including law enforcement officers. The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and law enforcement are also…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in condemning the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against the Mapping Media Freedom platform on 30 September and 1 October 2026 and in expressing their solidarity with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), which operates it. The attack overwhelmed the platform’s servers and temporarily disrupted public access. ECPMF took technical measures to restore access and the platform was accessible again on 2 October. ECPMF reported the attack to the Leipzig police on 6 October. According to its latest public update, there…

On October 11, Slovenians will vote on a referendum on whether to abolish the licence fee that funds their public broadcaster. In addition, a draft law is moving forward that would give the government decisive influence over the body responsible for appointing the broadcaster’s management. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in warning that both proposals risk breaching the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), and in calling on parliament to pause the legislative process. Ahead of a consultative referendum on abolishing the mandatory contribution that finances RTV Slovenija (RTV…