On 5 June, the Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and Reporters without Borders (RSF) organised a roundtable discussion at the Brussels Press Club on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which came into force on 7 May. Opening remarks were provided by Corinne Momal-Vanian, Executive Director of KAF, Renate Schroeder, Director of EFJ, and Antoine Bernard, Director of Advocacy at RSF, followed by a keynote speech from Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova. Sébastien Brack, KAF’s representative in Brussels, moderated a panel discussion with Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General of DG Connect, Frederic Bokobza, Deputy…

The Supreme Court’s council decided on 10 April 2024, overturning the previous verdicts of the lower courts, which had determined that the Croatian Radiotelevision’s (HRT) 2018 decision to summarily terminate the employment contract of Hrvoje Zovko, the president of the Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) and then executive editor of HTV4, was unlawful and the termination unjustified. The Supreme Court concluded that the verbal altercation between Zovko and Katarina Periša Čakarun, the senior editor of HRT’s Informative Media Service, constituted “an attack on the employer, insults, and an assault on the honor and reputation of the employer,” and thus represented a…

The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) and its affiliate, the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM), sent a letter to the members of the Parliament of Montenegro expressing serious concern about the significant last-minute changes to the draft Law on National Public Broadcasting in Montenegro. The Prime Minister’s Office has amended the agreed text of the draft Law, on which the Working Group on Media Legislation had been working for almost 30 months, without public consultation. We urge the Parliament to clarify and amend the text to ensure the normal and sustainable functioning of the endangered media…

The undersigned international media freedom, free expression, and journalist organisations call on the German authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the physical attack by Berlin police on Mexican video journalist Ignacio Rosaslanda while he was covering a police operation. The journalist who is working for the daily Berliner Zeitung was not only prevented from reporting and physically abused but was also arbitrarily detained for hours without medical care. We urge authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure that the attack does not go unpunished and strengthen the protection of journalists who are vulnerable targets during demonstrations.   On 23 May…

The SafeJournalists network, Media Freedom Rapid Response partners, and Coalition for Media Freedom condemn the ongoing attacks on journalists in Serbia. This growing pressure has been recently exemplified by a physical attack on journalist Vuk Cvijić, and the demand for prison sentences for the journalists of the media outlets KRIK and Pištaljka. We call on the authorities to prioritise addressing the rise in attacks against the press and to genuinely commit to improving the safety of journalists. Radar weekly journalist Vuk Cvijić was attacked on 29 May in Belgrade by Milan Lađević, co-owner of the publisher of the pro-government tabloid…

Russia’s Ministry of Defence confirmed, on 27 May 2024, that it has detained Ukrainian investigative journalist Viktoria Roshchyna. She had been reported missing while reporting in the Russian-occupied territory in August last year. Along with their affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), the International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemn the arrest of Roshchyna and urge the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her. According to a letter dated 17 April 2024 received by Roshchyna’s father from the Russian military police, the Ukrainian investigative journalist is currently being detained in Russia. Her father shared the…