EFJ joined 23 organisations in expressing solidarity with the Swedish media outlet Realtid

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined twenty-three organisations in expressing their solidarity with the Swedish business and finance publication, Realtid, its editor, and the two journalists being sued for defamation in London. Realtid are due before the High Court on 24 March for a two-day remote hearing that will decide whether England and Wales is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case to be heard. Realtid is being sued by Swedish businessman, Svante Kumlin, and his group of companies Eco Energy World (EEW), for eight articles that they published last year. Realtid had been investigating EEW ahead of an impending…

ETUC demands the Russian authorities to end the intimidation of journalists

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…

Austria: Federal government urgently needs to propose new funding model for Wiener Zeitung

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…

Call for governments and EU commission to reactivate cultural life in Europe

Following the open letter published by 110 pan-European networks on 30 October 2020 “Make culture central in the EU recovery”, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the group again to reiterate their call to the national governments and the European Commission. In the second open letter  published today by the group, coordinated by Culture Action Europe, the European cultural community call on the Member States and the European Commission to secure a future for culture and cultural life in Europe. Culture must be included in each and every National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) that EU countries should present to…

Letter: Increasing Concerns for Media Freedom in Slovenia

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined five leading media freedom organisations in writing to the President of the European Commission to express shared and growing concerns over the situation for press freedom in Slovenia. 16/03/2021 Dear Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, CC: Vera Jourova, European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, CC: MEPs of the European Parliament Media Working Group   The undersigned press freedom and journalists’ organisations from across Europe are writing to express our sincere concern about the deteriorating situation for media freedom in Slovenia and the renewed attacks by the Prime Minister…

Belarus: EFJ Demands Release of Journalist Denis Ivashin

Denis Ivashin is the 11th journalist under arrest in Belarus. He was arrested on the evening of Friday 12 March in Grodno, in the west of the country. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its Belarusian affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in calling for his immediate release and that of the other ten journalists detained in Belarus. A journalist with the weekly newspaper Novy Chas, Denis Ivashin published his latest investigation into former members of the “Berkut”, the Ukrainian riot police, who were recruited into the Belarusian police. He also contributes to the Belarusian service of the…

Speakers’ biographies: “Countering political interference in the media” Webinar

Anna Júlia Donáth is a Hungarian MEP sitting in the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs as well as the Employment and Social Affairs Committees. She studied sociology at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, and migration and ethnic studies at the University of Amsterdam. After studies she worked in the civil sector in Hungary. A founding member of the Momentum Movement, she was vice-president of the party for two years. In 2018 during a protest she was taken by the police and became a symbol of the fight for fundamental rights in Hungary. In the European Parliament,…

Register for Creative Skills Europe Webinar: “To produce or not to produce is never the question”

On Tuesday, 23 March 2021, from 2-3.30 PM, another digital skills webinar will take place. The European social partners behind Creative Skills Europe – the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the International Federation of Actors (FIA), the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), the Performing Arts Employers Associations League Europe (Pearle*) and UNI Europa media, entertainment & arts (EURO-MEI) are glad to invite you to this second webinar aimed at increasing the digital skills in the Live Performance and Audiovisual sectors. You can register for the webinar here. This second webinar is part of trilogy. After a first event held in November…

Serbia: We condemn dangerous and baseless smear campaign aimed at KRIK

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined MFRR partners in condemning the smear campaign aimed at the Network for Investigation of Crime and Corruption (KRIK) by pro-government media outlets that propagated the baseless and dangerous claim that KRIK has a ‘secret deal’ with Veljko Belivuk, a recently arrested leader of an organised crime group.  On 9th and 10th March, a number of pro-Government media outlets alleged that KRIK is coordinating with Belivuk to monitor or threaten the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić. Tabloid newspapers, including The Serbian Telegraph, Kurir and Alo published front-page articles that KRIK is Belivuk’s private media. Alo stated…