Following the victory of Karol Nawrocki in Poland’s presidential election on 1 June, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the undersigned media freedom organisations today in calling on the president elect to commit to building a cross-party consensus required to bolster press freedom and strengthen Polish democracy. Though the election of the Nawrocki, an ally of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, pits him in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, our organisations jointly stress the need for genuine and effective cooperation to drive forward much needed reforms to the media ecosystem, including on Strategic Lawsuits…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and over 130 journalists’ organisations, press freedom groups and international newsrooms in issuing a public appeal demanding that foreign journalists be granted immediate, independent and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip. The signatories are also calling for the full protection of Palestinian journalists, nearly 200 of whom have been killed by the Israeli army over the past 20 months. After 20 months of almost complete exclusion of international media from Gaza, the letter demands the protection of Palestinian journalists currently reporting under siege in the…

The General Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), which just took place in Budapest, Hungary, on 2 and 3 June, was marked above all by solidarity. The organisation representing media workers in Europe elected a new Steering Committee for the next three years and adopted no fewer than 35 resolutions and statements. For the first time in EFJ history, all affiliates present co-submitted two joint motions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, opening Gaza to the international press, and calling on the European Union to denounce the targeted attacks by the Israeli army against journalists in the West…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the announcement on 4 June 2025 of the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz to postpone the vote on the draft law on foreign-funded organisations until the autumn. The decision came a day after the EFJ General Meeting in Budapest, which took place on 2-3 June in the presence of Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony and OSCE High Representative on Freedom of the Media Jan Braathu. The EFJ continues to demand the withdrawal of this bill without further delay. Due to be passed in mid-June, the bill, entitled ‘Transparency in Public Life’, gives the government the…

European journalists’ organisations meeting in Budapest (Hungary) on 2-3 June 2025, on the occasion of the EFJ General Meeting (GM), denounced the ongoing crackdown by the Hungarian government on independent media, journalists and LGBTIQ people with the adoption of two resolutions. Co-organised by the EFJ Hungarian affiliates HPU and MUOSZ, the GM took place in a context of unprecedented repression against fundamental values and freedom, as the Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán presented a draft of a new foreign funding bill, on 13 May. If passed, this legislation would effectively represent the first foreign agent-style law in the…

Speech by Maja Sever (EFJ President) on 2 June 2025. Dear colleagues, dear friends, Welcome to Budapest and to the Elective General Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists. First, my sincere thanks to our hosts, the Hungarian Press Union, the National Association of Hungarian Journalists, and the Hungarian Confederation of Trade Unions, for making this gathering possible at such a critical moment. Because this is not just another meeting. This is a message. Our sign that we stand with our colleagues in Hungary and with free journalism and democracy. We are gathered in a country where independent journalism is…