The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) strongly condemns the online harassment, including threats of physical and sexual violence, against journalist Tanja Milevska, working for the North Macedonia news agency MIA as a Brussels correspondent. Milevska received dozens of verbal abuses, hate speech, death and rape threats on social network after she tweeted on 11 July asking whether Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament recognise the constitutional change of 2019 making “North Macedonia” the country’s official name. Following the tweets, trolls and active political figures have been fuelling threats for the past four days in an…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) are concerned by the proposed changes to the funding of public service media in Slovenia and the extremely short period of five days envisaged for public discussions. The proposed Law on amendments to the Slovenia Radio and Television Act drastically reduces finances for Slovenian public service and marginalises its role in the future. Changes are also being proposed to the Mass Media Act and the Slovenia Press Agency Act. RTVSLO has already been facing financial challenges with the current licence fee, which…

We, the undersigned organisations, are deeply concerned by the decision of the representatives of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan to block the renewal of the mandate of Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFOM). We respect the need for a consensus vote of all member states of the OSCE on the mandate renewal as an important commitment of all OSCE participating States to abide by their commitments to freedom of expression and free media. We understand the move by Azerbaijan and Tajikistan is an attempt to weaken the essential watchdog function of the mandate. Our organisations have worked closely…

12 July marks 1,000 days since the assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. On this anniversary, we, the undersigned organisations, once again demand justice for all those involved in her murder and the corruption she exposed. In recent weeks, yet more disturbing revelations of state corruption and impunity related to the case continue to emerge, underscoring the weaknesses in Malta’s rule of law, and entrenched impunity for both the murder of Caruana Galizia and the high-level abuses of power she investigated. During a June 2020 hearing to compile evidence against murder suspect, Yorgen Fenech, the Magistrate ordered the…

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) are extremely concerned by violence against journalists during the protests currently taking place in several cities in Serbia since the 7th of July. In two days, we have been informed of at least 14 attacks against journalists and media workers who were on the field to report in the public interest. The Federations condemn the brutal attacks by police forces as well as by demonstrators, and join their affiliates in Serbia, UNS, NUNS and SINOS, in calling on the police to respect the work of the journalists. Thousands of protesters took to…

Russian security forces arrested former journalist and current adviser of the head of the Russian space agency Ivan Safronov on 7 July on charges of “treason” for allegedly sharing military secrets. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), in expressing grave concerns over his arrest and the detention of journalists who protested against it. Ivan Safronov was one of the most prominent and respected journalists reporting on defence issues in Russia. He worked until May 2020 for two major Russian newspapers before becoming an adviser for the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Safronov is now accused…

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a mechanism to monitor and respond to threats against journalists and media workers in EU Member States and Candidate Countries, has responded to the unprecedented legal threats made against Polish newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza by contributing €15,000, it’s largest grant to date, to support the outlet’s legal defence. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), a MFRR partner, backs grant toward legal defence of newspaper.  Since 2015, Gazeta Wyborcza has received over 55 legal threats, including civil defamation actions and alleged infringement of personal interests by a number of actors including Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of…

Radio journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva has been found guilty of “justifying terrorism” and fined 500,000 rubles (around 6.000 €) over a column she wrote about a suicide bomb attack targeting the FSB security service in 2018. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate, the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), in calling for her complete acquittal. In November 2018, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva wrote a column about a suicide bomb attack against a local FSB building, linking it to the repression of political dissent under Putin’s rule. She said her article was merely…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners have raised further concerns about continued violence against journalists covering protests and demonstrations across European Union (EU) Member States and Candidates in 2020. The group calls for increased protection, police training and oversight, as well as broader respect for media freedom. In the first six months of the year, MFRR partners have documented over 31 separate cases of attacks and media freedom violations against at least 41 different journalists and media workers reporting from protests and demonstrations in 11 EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The figures, documented…

Croatian Prime minister Andrej Plenkovic accused journalists’ union leader Maja Sever of collaborating with his political opponent ahead of a pre-election TV debate. The European and International of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) have strongly condemned the accusations. PM Plenkovic insinuated that Sever had worked with the opposition to “prepare” his political rival, during a pre-election TV debate on 29 June on private RTL channel – which showcased the two main candidates for Prime Minister, Plenkovic for the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Davor Bernardic for the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Sever is a long-time journalist working for the Croatian public broadcaster Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT) and the President of the Trade Union…

A Turkish court has requested on 9 March the extradition of a Turkish journalist who is living in exile in Sweden for allegedly insulting two officers of the court in 2018. The news of the request to extradite Levent Kenez from Sweden was reported by nordicmonitor.com on 28 June. European and International Federations of journalists (EFJ/IFJ) join the Swedish Union of Journalists (SJ) in calling on Swedish authorities to deny the extradition request. Levent Kenez is accused of defaming a prosecutor and a judge in an article published on the Turkish-language news website TR724 on 17 February 2018, following the court’s decision…

Aktuakity journalist Peter Sabo found a bullet in his mailbox on 25 June, said today the news website editor-in-chief Peter Bárdy. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) strongly condemn the death threat and urge the authorities to swiftly identify those responsible and protect Peter Sabo. “I would very much like to believe that it was a joke of a child, but after the experience of more than two years ago, I know that if it is not a joke, it can kill”, Bárdy wrote in an editorial. “If they think they will intimidate us, they are wrong.” The case comes…

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, journalist bodies, free expression and journalist support organisations are concerned about the legal threats made against EUobserver in Luxembourg and Belgium and call to stop the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) actions across Europe. Left unreformed, such legal threats will be sufficient to silence media workers and outlets. We stand in solidarity with EUobserver and will continue to monitor developments around the case. In 2019, EUobserver published an article in the English language investigating the actions of a British PR firm, Chelgate, on behalf of the Maltese state. According to the…

Over 200 people, including 14 journalists, were arrested on June 21 during peaceful demonstrations against the arrest of presidential nominee Viktar Babaryka. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) join their affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) in condemning the arrests and urge the authorities to stop harassing journalists for doing their job. According to the BAJ, at least 14 journalists were arrested while covering the protests despite wearing badges and press vests to be recognized as media workers. Despite this, the BAJ claimed that journalists were attacked by the police, even while live streaming. Some of them were beaten by the police. These attacks, as reported…

Independent news website Index.hu has told its readers that the site’s staff and the whole newsroom were in danger due to “external pressures”. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) stand in solidarity with Index.hu workers and urges the Hungarian authorities to guarantee the freedom of information and media plurality in the country. Editor-in-chief of Index.hu, one of the few surviving independent news websites in Hungary, Szabolcs Dull, released a statement on 21 June warning that the website’s freedom was being jeopardised by an “organisational overhaul”. “We are concerned that with the proposed organisational overhaul, we will lose those values that made Index.hu the biggest and most-read news site…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) was invited today to introduce the working session on freedom of the media at the OSCE 2nd Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM). The EFJ called on the OSCE Participating States to fully implement the 2018 Ministerial Council Decision for the safety of journalists. “Hundreds of media outlets are under threat, starting with local media, which are simply in danger of disappearing for lack of financial support. Tens of thousands of journalists have been put on temporary unemployment. And tens of thousands of independent journalists have been deprived of any income for the past three…