Robert Fico and his Smer party have returned to power in Slovakia. The politician who was forced to resign as prime minister after the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018 is back at the head of a new governing coalition creating deep unease among Slovakia’s journalists about the future for media freedoms and public […]

Press freedom in Romania is under renewed threat as political parties have been distorting journalism with tens of millions of euros of public money flowing into the media. Major political parties and Romanian media outlets have in recent years signed significant contracts for political advertising, though transparency mechanisms are lacking. The content paid by parties […]

Media freedom in Bosnia and Herzegovina is undergoing a worrying period of backsliding amidst a string of restrictive new legislative efforts, hostile rhetoric and denigration of journalists by public officials, and ongoing systemic challenges facing the independence of public service media. These were the initial findings of a coalition of international journalists and media freedom […]

November 1 was the last time Gazeta Sporturilor (GSP), Romania’s leading sports publication and one of the oldest media brands in Europe, was published in print.  It was closed overnight without any notice. Within four months, the publication, owned by Swiss media group Ringier, has seen its editorial coordinator and editor-in-chief dismissed and its print […]