Freedom of the press: Borrell (EU), “an essential value for European democracy”. Protecting journalists

“Now more than ever, it is essential for press services to be free and independent, but freedom of the press keeps being threatened”. This was stated by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU, to celebrate today’s World Press Freedom Day. “Journalists keep working in very difficult conditions: just for doing their job, many of them undergo stronger and stronger financial and political pressures, are put under surveillance, arbitrarily sentenced to detention or abused”. According to UNESCO observatory, 76 journalists have been murdered from 2020 to this day; many others, all over the world, have been arrested, oppressed or threatened. “Freedom of the press is an essential value for European democracy, which supports it with lots of new initiatives too”, Borrell states. Freedom of the media and journalists’ safety ate key priorities in the new action plan on human rights and democracy and in the European Democracy Action Plan”. “On several occasions this last year, the EU has taken position against the intimidations and oppressions suffered by independent journalists in some countries. The EU, even through its special representative for human rights, has kept working to help persecuted independent journalists and has taken action in support of jailed journalists and bloggers”.
Valentina Bombelli