European trade union leaders stand up for solidarity with migrants

On International Migrants Day, trade union leaders across Europe, representing 45 million members from 90 trade union organisations in 38 European countries, will reiterate their support for solidarity with migrants by backing the first European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) on migration. Trade union leaders showed their commitment by signing the ‘We Are a Welcoming Europe’ initiative at a high-level meeting of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). “We are totally opposed to criminalising those who offer humanitarian assistance to migrants” said Luca Visentini, ETUC Secretary General. “The authorities should applaud and support those who help refugees fleeing life-threatening conflict. The Citizens Initiative rightly defends…

IFJ and EFJ condemn terrorist attack against Skai TV and Khatimerini newspaper

A bomb blast today damaged a building in Athens housing the headquarters of Greece’s private radio and television network Skai and Greek daily newspaper Khatimerini, but there were no casualties. Anti-terrorist police opened an investigation into the attack that focused on Greek extremist groups. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their Greek affiliates in condemning the blast as “an attack on media pluralism”. The homemade device went off at around 2:37 am, 45 minutes after an anonymous telephone warning to another TV network. Police cordoned off the neighbourhood in the Athens suburb of Neo Phaliro and evacuated the building, which contains…

Newsocracy: Transparency in media ownership in focus

The damaging effects of media ownership concentration in Europe was the topic of the Newsocracy conference held in Prague, Czech Republic, on 14 December, organised by the European Centre of Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF). The conference highlighted the importance to develop both transparency and pluralism in media ownership to guarantee media as a public good. “The conference turned out to be a wake up call. Experts showed how the lack of transparency in ownership influences media policy in many European countries – in the EU in general, in Central and Eastern Europe in particular”, said European Federation of Journalists’ (EFJ)…