The freedom of the press, essential for democracy, continue to suffer new attacks in the European Union (EU). In recent weeks, at reform of the Greek penal code A restrictive Polish law and the purchase of Euronews by a fund linked to the Hungarian authoritarian regime have been added to gag journalists. What’s more, The European Parliament has called for urgent measures against the spread of abusive and intimidating lawsuits to silence the press.European Commissioner Vera Jourova acknowledges that journalism in some EU states is “a truly dangerous profession & rdquor; and that it is unacceptable how the press is treated in Hungary and Slovenia. But beyond statements, in a decade the European Commission has not adopted effective measures to correct it. Even Given the serious setback in freedom of the press in Albania, the European Commission indicated that it was not a reason to delay the accession negotiations.
The Polish Parliament approved the new media law on December 17, destined to silence the main private television network and its news channel TVN24. The law was added at the last minute to the agenda of the last parliamentary day of the year for hasty approval. The law prohibits companies from outside the European Economic Area from having the majority of one means of communication in Poland. Its objective is to force the North American group Discovery to sell its channels and especially TVN24, whose critical information is not tolerated by the ultra-right government of the Law and Justice party (PiS). Thousands of Poles demonstrated on December 19 against that law and the Government, which copies the Hungarian model of gagging the press.
CE passivity
The US State Department has asked Polish President Andrzej Duda not to sign the law, because it undermines freedom of speech and the press and investor confidence. The Joe Biden Administration trusts Duda to listen, given Poland’s reliance on the US for defense. The European Commission also ensures that it will act if the law enters into force, although it would be the first time it has applied a effective measure to protect press freedom. Reporters Without Borders has been complaining for years about the passivity of the European Commission in the face of the decline in press freedom in the EU. Since the arrival to power of PiSen 2015, Poland has fallen 46 places in the World Press Freedom Index, up to number 64, in the tail of the EU next to Greece (70), Hungary (92) and Bulgaria (112).
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Reporters Without Borders has also been unsuccessfully demanding for months the European Commission to act on the reform of the Greek penal code that criminalizes with prison the publication “false information & rdquor; that “causes anxiety or fear in citizens & rdquor; or “disrupts public confidence in the national economy, defense or health & rdquor ;. The reform, approved by Parliament in November, does not clearly define what is “false information”, what allows the Greek authorities to “go after any journalist who writes something they don’t like & rdquor;, says Reporters Without Borders. The Greek Government is from European People’s Party (EPP), as well as the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, until March).The European Parliament has just reproached the Slovenian Government, also from the EPP, for intimidating and attacking the press.
The purchase of 88% of the pan-European television channel Euronews by the Alpac Capital fund with close ties to Orbán It makes us suspect that it seeks to ensure a favorable image from Euronews before the 2022 elections. Alpac Capital, based in Dubai, Budapest and Lisbon, assures that it will guarantee the editorial independence of Euronews. But Alpac has received significant funds from the Government and Hungarian public companies and does business with companies around Orbán. Likewise, the top executive of Alpac Capital, Pedro Vargas David, has family connections with Orbán and his father, former PPE vice president Mario David, has been Orbán’s advisor for years. Since 2010, Orbán has been muzzling the press to establish himself in power. His government controls, through a foundation, almost 500 media that were gifted to him by related businessmen. And when a critical medium arises, a like-minded businessman buys it and gags it, as happened with the news website Index in 2020, Hungary was the only EU country excluded from recent US Democracy Summit.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com