Serbia: Media freedom continues to decline at alarming speed, EU must take action - Article

 OBCT joins free expression organisations in condemning the decline of media freedom in Serbia

Hungary: Foreign funding bill poses most serious threat to independent media in years - Article

OBCT joins MFRR partners in urging the EU to take action against Hungary’s proposed foreign funding bill, which poses a serious threat to freedom of expression and media freedom

Croatia: Tackling political pressure, legal challenges and precarity to revive media freedom - Article

Outdated media laws, compromised public media independence, SLAPPs, as well as mounting economic, political, and physical pressures are undermining journalism and media freedom in Croatia, as outlined in the latest Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) report

Index of the State of the Press in the Republic of Moldova (ISPM) – 2024 - Reports

The Index of the State of the Press in the Republic of Moldova (ISPM) is an annual initiative led by the Centrul pentru Jurnalism Independent/Independent Journalism Center (IJC) based in Chisinau, Moldova

Condemnation of legal threats against Danwatch by Ingosstrakh and ELWI - Article

OBCT joins free expression organizations in denouncing legal threats issued by a Moscow-based law firm against the Danish investigative media outlet Danwatch

MFRR Monitoring Report 2024 - Article

The latest annual Monitoring Report analyses the press freedom situation in 35 European countries, including the 27 EU Member States and nine countries with EU candidate status. Between January and December 2024, Mapping Media Freedom documented 1,548 press freedom violations targeting 2,567 media-related persons or entities – an alarming increase compared to the 1,153 violations recorded in 2023

Media Freedom organisations call for action as press freedom violations surge in Turkey in 2025 - Article

The undersigned press freedom, freedom of expression, human rights, and journalists’ organisations, and media outlets, express serious concern over the recent escalation of press freedom violations in Turkey, marking a troubling start to the new year. The frequent use of arbitrary arrests, detentions, judicial control measures, and convictions poses an existential threat to independent media, democratic discourse, and fundamental human rights in the country

Urgent call on the European Union to react to the critical press freedom situation in Georgia - Article

OBCT and partner organisations express deep concern about the ongoing violence against journalists in Tbilisi in a joint letter to EU institutions 

Self-defence against SLAPPs in Serbia - Article

In Serbia, the investigative newspaper KRIK is the target of frequent legal harassment. To counteract it, the editorial team has developed strategies based on civil society solidarity, public denunciation and monitoring of trials

By Massimo Moratti

Originally published by OBCT. Also available in ITA.

Joint letter to European Commission President: EU should oppose Türkiye’s “agent of influence” bill - Article

In a joint letter, 55 international and local press freedom and human rights organisations urge the EU Commission to call for full withdrawal of the "agent of influence" bill in Turkey.