Following a three-day mission to Sofia between 24-26 September, a coalition of international journalists and press freedom organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), concluded that progress is needed to prevent and prosecute attacks on journalists, resolve the ongoing dispute over the leadership of the public broadcaster, guarantee the independence of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM) and pass anti-SLAPP legislation. Despite the important work of key journalist associations, there is a low level of solidarity within the journalistic profession. The mission, organised by the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) also found that Bulgaria…

At least six journalists have been injured since early September while covering the protests against the 2026 national budget plan. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners condemn the deliberate violence by law enforcement officers and call once again on the French authorities to protect and recognise the work of journalists as essential during protests. On 18 September 2025, a journalist from the public television channel France 2 was hospitalised in Lyon after being injured while covering the second day of the “Bloquons tout” (Block Everything) protests against the French government. The journalist…

Between 24-25 September, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) will join a coalition of international media freedom and journalist organisations travelling to Bulgaria to conduct a press freedom mission on behalf of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR). The delegation, which will include the EFJ General Secretary, Ricardo Gutiérrez, will conduct a series of meetings over two days in the capital Sofia with stakeholders including the Bulgarian President, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Council of Electronic Media (CEM), Office of General Prosecutor, Commission for Personal Data Protection, Central Election Commission, and representatives…

September 19 marks one year since the death of Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who had been held for over a year in Russian captivity. On this day, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its MFRR partners in remembering Victoria and demanding justice for her death from Russian authorities. Roshchyna’s body was repatriated to Ukraine and buried in Kyiv only on 8 August 2025, almost one year after the official date of her death recorded by Russian authorities. According to Ukrainian forensic investigators, Roshchyna’s body showed numerous signs of torture, including burn marks from electric shocks, cuts on the…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the Safe Journalists Network (SJN) and the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners in expressing, in an open letter to the Parliament of Albania, our serious concern over recent proposals by the parliamentary majority to significantly restrict journalists’ access to the Parliament of Albania.

The Danish government has announced its intention to introduce a public-funded Ombudsperson for the media with broad legal powers concentrated into a single state-appointed institution. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), as well as Danish media and journalist groups in opposing the proposal, warning that rather than strengthening the existing media regulatory framework, it would weaken the role of the Press Council and risks creating new avenues for unjustified or politicised interference in healthy media ecosystem. The role and powers given to the new Media Ombudsperson were outlined by the…