The Committee to Protect Journalists and 25 partners on Friday wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling on her to make press freedom and journalist safety a priority during her second term and offering recommendations for “durable and long-lasting solutions.”
“It is crunch-time for the European Commission to deliver on media freedom and build its credibility with journalists,” said Tom Gibson, CPJ’s EU representative. “Last month’s European Parliament elections saw a concerning surge in support for far right and populist parties. A strong press can help safeguard democratic values and President Ursula von der Leyen must build on the measures taken in her first term to uphold the defense of journalism.”
After the 2019 elections, von der Leyen took the ground-breaking step of appointing a Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, with a mandate to protect media freedom and journalist safety.
CPJ’s 2023 report “Fragile Progress“ assesses the EU’s response to threats to media freedom.
Read the full letter here.
