European Federation of Journalists

Media Freedom Rapid Response

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a partner of Media Freedom Rapid Response project (MFRR) aiming to promote an independent, pluralistic media landscape, to safeguard media workers, especially harassed female media workers and to protect the rights of journalists. The RRM helps to mitigate the consequences of the recently observed deterioration of media freedom in several European Union, Member States and Candidate Countries.

Overall Objective

The overall objective of this project is to provide practical support for journalists to improve media freedom in Europe.

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) is designed to detect, answer and prevent violations of press and media freedom. It consists of three layers: monitoring, categorisation, responses.

Specific objectives

1. Mapping Media Freedom (MMF) in Europe (EU & Candidate Countries): Media violations are on the rise especially under the current coronavirus crisis. One of the key components of the project is to monitor and document a wide range of media violations conducted by any actors, whether individuals, state actors or business, so that actions can be taken rapidly to address the violations.

2. Practical supports: Based on the media violations reported, the project offers a wide range of immediate to long-term, practical support ranging from legal help, safety advice and training, safe house for journalists, advocacy and mission, and online resources. You could find more information about the legal support here and more details about safe house for journalists here.

3. Advocacy & Trial Monitoring: Joint media advocacy will also be carried out by the project including joint statements, national missions (in Czech Republic, Hungry, Spain, Serbia), roundtable advocacy meetings with EU policy-makers. The EFJ will involve the relevant national members when carrying out such national missions. Trial Monitoring especially for Turkey, Malta (for the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia) and Slovakia (for the case of Ján Kuciak) will be carried out and participated by the project partners to help find justice for journalists who are put in jails or murdered.

Anyone can submit and report a media violation to the MMF platform online.

Actions

Czech Republic: Public media funding bill raises concerns over compatibility with EMFA

A new government bill which would overhaul the funding model for the Czech public media risks financially weakening the broadcasters, eroding safeguards for their financial independence and violating European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the undersigned Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and other media freedom, journalist and freedom of expression organisations warn today. Our organisations call on the European Commission to closely assess this bill regarding its compatibility with Article 5 of EMFA and to ensure that no reforms are undertaken which threaten the financial, editorial or institutional independence of the Czech public media.…

Serbia: Total impunity entrenched 27 years after killing of editor Slavko Ćuruvija

Twenty-seven years after the assassination of Serbian newspaper publisher and editor Slavko Ćuruvija in Belgrade, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the undersigned media freedom organisations to mark the upcoming anniversary of the killing by lamenting the complete impunity for those responsible for one of the most serious attacks on journalism in the country’s history. Our organisations, which were part of a recent international media freedom mission to Serbia organised by the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists and the Media freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), have monitored the media freedom crisis in Serbia intensively in the…

Georgia: Sadygov’s deportation is a stark example of transnational repression against journalists in Europe

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the undersigned Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, and other media freedom, journalist and freedom of expression organisations in condemning the arrest and deportation of Afgan Sadygov, founder of Azerbaijani news outlet and youtube channel Azel.tv from Georgia to Azerbaijan. Sadygov’s deportation constitutes a blatant violation of Georgia’s commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and demands strong international condemnation. Sadygov was deported on 5 April following his arrest at his home in Tbilisi the previous night on charges of “insulting police” on social media. The deportation verdict was made by a judge…

Serbia: Authorities must stop the spiral of violence against journalists

Media freedom in Serbia remains trapped in a downward spiral amidst record levels of physical violence against journalists, death threats and online smear campaigns, alarming levels of impunity, and tight political control over the media landscape, a coalition of media freedom organisations concluded. Following a two-day mission to Belgrade on 26-27 March, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) assessed that the past year had seen a continued deterioration, leaving the country in a prolonged and worsening press freedom…

Hungary: Espionage charges against Szabolcs Panyi ahead of elections mark another dangerous step toward Orbán’s authoritarian rule

Hungary’s most renowned investigative journalist, Szabolcs Panyi, faces politically motivated espionage charges after revealing Russian interference in Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s election campaign. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the undersigned organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in standing in solidarity with Szabolcs Panyi and denouncing another dangerous step toward Orbán’s authoritarian rule in the run-up to the April 12 elections. On 26 March 2026, the Hungarian government said it intended to file a criminal complaint against Panyi, a journalist for VSquare and Direkt36, accusing him of spying for Ukraine. The espionage accusations surfaced just as the…

MFRR’s vision for the European Centre for Democratic Resilience

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined the partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) in calling on the European Commission and EU Member States to ensure that the governance and operational structure of the new European Centre for Democratic Resilience (ECDR) is anchored in a genuine whole-of-society approach, stronger coordination across existing EU instruments, and robust safeguards for fundamental rights, media freedom and democratic pluralism. The ECDR should not just become another hub, but an effective EU coordination and exchange mechanism that seeks to protect democratic resilience holistically and is of added value to already existing initiatives.…