In Sarajevo, Borka Rudic, the General Secretary of the BH Journalists’ Association (BHN) and professor in journalism Lejla Turcilo, are targeted by nationalistically motivated hateful comments on social networks. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in Bosnia in condemning the smear campaign and urging the authorities to investigate the case. This campaign is the continuation of coordinated attacks, hateful comments and defamatory statements, which started a year ago on social media against professor Turcilo, led by several media outlets and journalist Alena Lena Demirović. Lejla Turcilo is the head of the Department of Journalism and Communication at…

As the European Parliament today debates the Pegasus spyware scandal, the undersigned partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) call for an immediate investigation into the alleged use of the spyware against journalists by Hungarian authorities and urge the strong implementation of new EU rules on the export of cyber-surveillance technology around the world. Revelations by the Pegasus Project that at least 180 journalists in 20 countries had their phones infected by the NSO Group’s spyware underscored the need for urgent action by the international community to tackle the unregulated spread of such technology and to create safeguards for…

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen gave the annual address on the State of the Union in front of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on 15 September. In her speech, she stressed the need to better protect journalists, media outlets’ independence and the public right to information. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed a strong statement in favour of media freedom and demanded concrete binding initiatives for EU member states to make these words a reality. President Ursula von der Leyen gave a long speech outlining her vision for the future of Europe and…