Romania: concern about abusive legal action by former bishop against journalists and outlets - Article

The undersigned civil society organisations are concerned about the legal action taken by a former bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church against The Centre for Investigative Media (CIM), Dela0.ro and three journalists, in relation to their reporting on alleged sexual abuse. We consider the proceedings have many of the characteristics of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and hope the courts will deal with them swiftly with due respect for European human rights law and standards

Open Letter to Croatian Minister of Justice to free whistleblower Jonathan Taylor - Article

Arrested last July, the British lawyer is still in Croatia at risk of extradiction to Monaco. The MFRR partners and several ngos ask Croatia to protect him

MFRR raises concerns over increasing meddling in independence of Czech public broadcaster - Article

The partner organisations of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) express their serious concern over the latest efforts by the ruling ANO party and its allies to further politicise the oversight body of the Czech public broadcaster.

We are worried that the slow-motion yet obvious efforts to stack the Council of the Czech TV (ČT Council) are ultimately aimed at the erosion of the public television’s independence and politically-motivated realignment of its news and opinion programming

Turkey: a letter of concern ahead of the visit of EU leaders - Article

Ahead of their visit to Turkey, we joined several ngos and human rights groups in asking the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission to highlight the country's domestic human rights situation, in particular threats to journalists and media outlets

Solidarity with the Swedish media outlet Realtid ahead of the first hearing in their UK defamation case - Article

Twenty-four organisations express their solidarity with the Swedish business and finance publication, Realtid, its editor, and the two journalists being sued for defamation in London. Realtid are due before the High Court tomorrow for a two-day remote hearing that will decide whether England and Wales is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case to be heard

Letter: Increasing Concerns for Media Freedom in Slovenia - Article

We co-signed a letter to the Commission and to the media working group of the European Parliament

Media Freedom in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia - Article

Statement to Members of the European Parliament ahead of the March 10 debate: ‘Government's attempt to silence free media in Poland and in Hungary’. The partners of the Media Freedom Rapid Response sent this letter:

MFRR Summit. Locked Down: Protecting Europe's Free Press - Article

The Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) announces the first MFRR Summit, taking place online between 17th and 20th March. Locked Down: Protecting Europe’s Free Press will feature keynote speeches by Irene Khan and Věra Jourová, and bring together 32 journalists and experts from 16 countries to explore the threats facing media freedom in Europe across eight panels and two workshops

Country factsheet: Bulgaria - Article

Called "the black sheep of EU media freedom", Bulgaria faces a lot of issues related to freedom of expression and safety of journalists. Here a detailed overview made by OBCT journalist Francesco Martino, who lives in Sofia

Hungary violated EU state aid rules: a letter to the Commission - Article

The MFRR partners sent a new complaint to the EU Commissioner for Competition, asking for action against the deteriorating environment for media freedom las other countries like Poland are following the path established by Hungary