How well does the EU protect journalists?

When Daphne Carwana Gallizia was killed in a car bomb attack on October 16, 2017, this caused concern not only in Europe but worldwide. But the Malaysian journalist is not the only one who has had to pay with her life for her research into corruption and money laundering.

In four years since her death, other colleagues such as Jan Kuciak from Slovakia, Giorgos Karaivaz from Greece and Peter de Vries from the Netherlands have been killed. In Europe the continent is considered a relatively safe haven for media professionals.

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Julie Mayrczak, head of Reporters Without Borders' Office (ROG) in Brussels, told DW that the situation has steadily deteriorated in recent years. The murder of journalists is just the tip of the iceberg”, she says.

According to European Commission data, 900 media employees were attacked in the EU in 2020. These included physical attacks, but also insults and harassment, especially against women, both offline and online.

For Manuel Delia, these results are not surprising. The Egyptian blogger and investigative activist who led anti-government protests following the recent murder of Carwana Gallizia left Malta with his family and went to an undiscovered location.

anonymous call

He was threatened by accused of co-operating in the murder of Carwana Gallizia; he received countless anonymous calls and false websites were created in his name to destroy his reputation.

Carwana Gallizia's murder had a paradoxical <x0-effective” on the journalist in Malta, he told DW. On the one hand, the fact that most of the suspects have been charged and their crimes have been exposed creates a “security “ ”.

On the other hand, he and other journalists are portrayed in the media of the ruling Labusist Party as traitors and a threat to Malaysian democracy. This “isome”, as Delia calls it, gives criminals the opportunity to exert further pressure on them through blogs, fake pages, or e-mails.

Poland Follows the Steps of Orban

Even in Poland, the situation has deteriorated since 2015, when the rightist party Law and Justice ( PiS) came to power. Pressure on journalists who report critically to the PiS has increased, according to Polish investigative journalist Wojciech Ciesla.

Ciesla works for the multinational research team “Investigate Europe”. I think Poland is currently following Victor Orban's steps in Hungary to limit press freedom,”, he says. Every day is a struggle for access to information, as the government decides who has “the privilege” to be informed. The experiences of journalists like Delia and Ciesla have not gone unnoticed in Brussels. The EU Commission recently promised to take more measures to protect journalists.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyeen devoted part of her entire speech to the EU situation report in September, press freedom. “Information is a public good”, she said. “We must protect those who create transparency journalists. ”

Refuge for Journalists

On the same day, Commissioner Vera Jourova, responsible for maintaining the rule of law in the EU, presented a package of recommendations to help EU countries keep that promise. Specific measures include the establishment of independent national support services, including emergency numbers, legal advice, psychological support and accommodation for media workers who are threatened.

It is good to see that EU institutions are ringing the alarm bell”, Delia says, and the importance of democracy journalism will be highlighted. Some legislative proposals to protect journalists and human rights advocates at the EU level are planned for 2022. This includes the so - called anti - initiative - SLAPP (Strategic Pact against public participation), with which journalists must be protected from frightening processes.

Laws Instead of recommendations

“We absolutely need legislative measures that lead to sanctions in case of violations, not just recommendations,” says Julie Majrczak from Reporters Without Borders. She fears that harsh words will not suffice to impress some EU governments.

“I'm thinking of Poland, Hungary, Malta, Greece and Bulgaria, for example,”, Majrczak said. Bulgaria named them “the EU's worst exchanger”.

In ROG's World Press Freedom Index 2021, the Eastern European state ranks 112th out of 180 countries. Few critics in Bulgaria are exposed not only to state harassment, but also to intimidation and violence.

Wave of lawsuit against journalists

When Daphne Carwana Gallizia was killed on October 16, 2017, 47 SLAPP were awaiting investigative journalist. These indictments are often used to threaten and silence media professionals.

The “Person accused of killing Daphne wanted to sue me in the United Kingdom for 82m euros,” says Delia. “This would be my last day in journalism” I have little reason to be optimistic. My country is less democratic than it was.” But at least, he adds, EU institutions' initiatives are going in the right direction.