On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, our five organisations have undertaken a joint press freedom mission to Malta, in follow-up to our initial joint mission at the one-year mark in 2018. We have come together once again to mark the occasion and remember Caruana Galizia’s life, work and courage, and to raise our concerns on the case and the broader press freedom climate in the country directly with the Maltese authorities. Representatives of ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the…

Tensions increased in the Northern part of Kosovo after police undertook an anti-smuggling operation in Mitrovica on 13 October. Several journalists covering the riots, as well as citizens and police officers, were attacked by protesters. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliates in Kosovo AGK in condemning all violent attacks against journalists and calling on the authorities to ensure their protection. During the clashes, journalists from the local Kosovo Serb language media, KoSSev, reported threats and attacks against them, after which they decided to remove the journalists from the field. In particular, Ivan Mitic was approached by protesters on…

The annual meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), meeting in Zagreb, Croatia, on 8-9 October, unanimously adopted a resolution on the dissolution of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an EFJ affiliate. On 27 August 2021, the Belarus Supreme Court dissolved the BAJ, the only independent representative organisation of journalists and media workers in Belarus, as part of the unprecedented purge against journalists, media outlets, as well as other civil society organisations. By adopting this resolution, journalists’ organisations from all over Europe expressed solidarity with their colleagues in Belarus. The EFJ will continue to assist BAJ to maintain…

The European Federation of Journalists today joined its partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in urging the Greek government to withdraw proposed amendments which would introduce fines and jail sentences for journalists found guilty of publishing “false news”. We believe the draft law’s vague definition and punitive sanctions would undermine the freedom of the press and have a chilling effect at a time when independent journalism is already under pressure in Greece. The proposed amendments to Article 191 of the Civil Code, brought forward by the Ministry of Justice, would include penalties for those found guilty of disseminating…

Speech by Mogens Blicher Bjerregård (EFJ President) on 8 October 2021:  Welcoming you all to the EFJ Annual Meeting 2021 in Zagreb, Croatia, we will start with the great news of today that the Nobel Peace Prize winner this year is press freedom and journalism. Maria Ressa, one of the most courageous and prominent investigative journalists from the Philippines, and the editor-in-chief of an independent newspaper in Russia, Dmitry Muratov, are the well-deserved announced winners, and this will have an enormous impact on press freedom. Choosing the editor-in-chief at Novaja Gazeta, where Anna Politkovskaya and other killed journalists worked, is extremely important.…

Between 14 and 16 October, the General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) as well as representatives of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) will visit Malta to meet with members of the Maltese Government, civil society representatives, journalists, and other key stakeholders. The mission takes place four years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, on 16 October 2017. Despite modest progress in some areas, the ongoing impunity for the brutal murder and broader systemic failings continue to negatively impact Malta’s press…