The political interference at Index, one of the last independent news outlets in Hungary, requires a strong reaction from the leaders of the European Union. The move contravenes the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is a legally binding charter. The EU should feel responsible: issued on Thursday, the EU Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM2020) states that “EU-funds are constantly used to finance pro-government media and spread anti-EU messages” in Hungary. Inaction on behalf of the EU leaders allows Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to tighten his authoritarian grip. Yesterday, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) together with its Media Freedom Rapid…

To the consideration of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Heiko Maas, Federal Foreign Minister on behalf of Germany’s presidency of the Council of the EU Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners are profoundly concerned about the latest media freedom attacks in Hungary, which follow only days after the EU Summit, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán praised the rule of law situation in his country.   Dear President von der Leyen, Dear President Michel, Dear Federal Foreign Minister Maas, Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners are profoundly concerned by…

Thousands of people took to the streets in Budapest on Friday evening to demonstrate against the attacks on Hungary’s biggest independent news portal “Index”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes this protest march and calls on European leaders to protect media freedom in Hungary. The editorial board and more than 70 journalists at “Index” have resigned, two days after its editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull was fired amid claims of political interference. On Friday, three leading editors and more than 70 others said they were ending their employment there, because board president Laszlo Bodolai had refused to reinstate the chief editor. The…

The 2020 Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM2020) confirms mounting harassment against journalists, media outlets face increasing economic uncertainty, as online media sphere fails to reinforce pluralism. The report points out a deteriorating situation regarding the standards and protection of the journalistic profession. Croatia, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, Romania, Slovakia, Albania, Italy, Slovenia, Malta, Ireland and France score as being at medium risk and Turkey as high risk for this indicator. The sub-indicator on journalists’ working conditions scores an alarming high risk in 13 countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The European University Institute (EUI)…

After years of resisting demands to pay for news, Google said in a surprise announcement on 25 June it had reached deals with a number of news publishers around the world. The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) and their affiliates demand transparency on the deals and assurances that journalists will receive their share. Deals between Google and news publishers were signed in several countries, including Australia, Brazil, and Germany, and were part, the tech giant said, of a “new experience that would focus on high-quality content and help participating publishers monetize it.”  No details were made available, but the agreements…

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…