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Press Release : Prioritise media Freedom and Sustainability

May 16 2018, Sofia, Bulgaria. A conference on press freedom took place on the fringes of the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia in Bulgaria which gathered journalists, media organisations, publishers, NGOs and members of the European parliament. Participants warned of the waning strength and independence of European media and the consequent threat to democracy. 21 years after the UNESCO Sofia Declaration for a free and pluralistic media, they published the ‘Sofia Declaration’, urging the EU to prioritise media freedom in Europe.

The participants representing the media sector across Europe pointed increasing political pressure and growing political control over media in a number of Central and Eastern European countries, namely Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia. In addition the event strongly focused on sustainability of the business models of media and challenges associated with the digital transformation of traditional media.

The erosion of the European democratic model, a trend visible in recent years, is ongoing and becoming more and more worrying. The traditionally safe environment for journalists in Europe has begun to deteriorate as the region has been shaken by two murders and by threats to investigative reporters as well as unprecedented verbal attacks on the media.

Recent events in several of the EU member states clearly violate national and international law when it comes to protecting media freedom. The EU and the Council of Europe have established legal procedures for protecting freedom of expression in the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Nevertheless these structures are sometimes insufficient to uphold and enforce the fundamental European values and their constitutional traditions.

The combination of different factors, such as the murders of journalists and physical threats against them, increasing political and institutional pressure, repressive legislation targeting the media, disruptive technologies and the financial crisis have put the existence of the free media in a number of EU countries at risk,” said Pauline Adès-Mével, head of the EU-Balkan desk of RSF.

The declaration pinpointed some practical measures to prevent the decline of European media:

The declaration adopted at the end of the conference is an open document and will be further updated in the future with new cases and new countries.

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Press release in PDF (english)

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Sofia declaration (english)

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