The Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), where the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was represented, adopted a new resolution on Monday condemning the repression of protesters and journalists in Russia. The ETUC demands the Russian authorities “to end the intimidation of protesters, who are peacefully expressing their opinions, and of journalists, who are just doing their jobs.” The ETUC is seriously concerned about the Russian government’s lack of respect of fundamental freedoms, following the harsh repression of public protests: “The Russian authorities used force to disperse protests detaining record numbers of people, many of whom were…

The world’s oldest daily newspaper still in publication, Austria’s Wiener Zeitung, is facing possible closure of its print edition as the government’s plans to remove mandatory public advertisements of companies have become clearer. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its Austrian affiliates, the Austrian Press Union (GPA) and younion_Die Daseinsgewerkschaft, in urging the federal government to propose an alternative plan to finance Wiener Zeitung in order to avoid job losses and further deterioration of media pluralism. The plans announced by the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and Greens coalition are by no means new. The mandatory public advertisements of companies in…