Greece is worst EU country for media freedom, says report – POLITICO

Greece is the worst-ranked EU country for press freedom, according to the yearbook World Press Freedom Index published Tuesday.

The south-eastern country has overtaken Bulgaria as the EU’s worst-performing nation and now ranks 108th – down from 70th in last year’s index – on a list of 180 countries compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

While the worst press freedom abusers are non-EU countries – China, Belarus, Russia, Iran, Myanmar and North Korea – European countries have also seen press freedom deterioration, including Italy (down 17 places from last year’s ranking) and Slovenia (down 18 places), Austria (down 14) and Belgium (down 12).

Greece is among a list of countries, including Slovenia, Poland and Hungary, that have tightened draconian laws against journalists, the report said. Athens last year passed a new law making it one offense Spreading “false information” by citizens is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The report also notes that those responsible for the murders of journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta and Ján Kuciak in Slovakia have not yet been convicted. In Greece, authorities have failed to solve the murder of Greek crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz shot down in front of his home in Athens in April 2021.

To mark World Press Freedom Day, the European Parliament will debate the safety of journalists at Tuesday’s plenary session in Strasbourg, which will also be attended by Transparency Commissioner Věra Jourová will, together with Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, highlight plans toMedia Freedom Act.”

The law aims to enshrine media pluralism and independence in EU legislation and calls on EU countries to support the new Brussels law protecting journalists from abusive lawsuits. The measure aims to give courts more powers to quickly dismiss such lawsuits and even impose potential penalties on them.

The World Press Freedom Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists based on an assessment of pluralism, media independence and the safety of journalists in each of the countries.