EU STRESSES ‘ESSENTIAL’ ROLE OF JOURNALISTS IN TIMES OF WAR, CONFLICT AND TERRORISM​

On the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, High Representative Josep Borrell and Vice President Vera Jourová have issued a statement reiterating the EU’s commitment to support journalists and independent media workers everywhere.

Through the release issued Wednesday, the EU praised and recalled the “essential role played by journalists and media workers in “these difficult times marked by wars, conflicts and terrorist acts” in “the fight for truth and human rights.” “Sometimes at the risk of their own lives,” the High Representative, Josep Borrell, noted on the X social network.

Borrell and Jourová highlighted the contribution of journalists in countering disinformation and hate speech and in maintaining checks and balances on governments and public institutions. They also pointed out that they shed light on war crimes and human rights violations.

In the same vein, they “strongly” condemned the murders, physical assaults, arbitrary arrests, intimidation, harassment, and online and offline surveillance they sometimes face while exercising their profession. In this regard, they regretted that these professionals are increasingly “targeted by laws that restrict freedom of expression and abusive litigation, thus limiting pluralism, editorial independence and infringing on freedom of expression”.

In this context, they called for the establishment of national frameworks to ensure the safety of journalists, including elements of awareness, prevention, protection and prosecution, with an emphasis on including specific measures for women journalists and those belonging to minority groups.

They also reiterated the EU’s commitment to supporting independent media workers everywhere and assured that they would continue to mobilize “all diplomatic tools at our disposal to draw attention to individual cases of journalists detained or at risk.”

They recalled the creation of ProtectDefenders.eu to provide journalists at high risk with physical and digital protection, legal support and relocation and that, under the Global Europe program for human rights and democracy, the EU allocates 185 million euros to support independent media.

They thus urged Member States to implement the Commission’s recommendation on the safety of journalists and stressed that the proposed Media Freedom Act aims to safeguard their independence and media pluralism.

They also noted that the Commission has taken steps to combat strategic lawsuits against public participation, which “put pressure on journalists and want to silence them” and emphasized the importance of “swiftly” adopting these proposals to improve the environment in which journalists and the media operate and set global standards.

They concluded by expressing the EU’s support for journalists around the world who, every day, “exercise their freedom of expression for the benefit of us all.”

This news was originally published in Aquí Europa.