As Donald Trump and his friends take control in the United States, the AEJ has raised the alarm about gathering threats to media freedom in central Europe.
The following is a statement from honorary AEJ president Otmar Lahodynsky, former international president and longtime head of the AEJ’s section in Austria where right-wing populist politicians have won an increasingly powerful voice in the country and its government in recent years.
The AEJ statement was also published in Austria’s Der Standard paper.
AEJ statement by Otmar Lahodynsky, honorary AEJ president
The Association of European Journalists (AEJ) is concerned about current threats and restrictions to media freedom in Central Europe. It is one of the fundamental values of the European Union and needs more protection at the national and EU level.
We demand more protection for independent media, which are irreplaceable as the ‘4th power’ for a functioning democracy. There must be no intimidation on the part of governments through the withdrawal of funding and advertising.
There is currently particular cause for concern in several Central European countries:
In Austria, the right-wing populist FPÖ party, which became the party with the most votes in the parliamentary elections at the end of September 2024 with 28 per cent, has laid claim to the position of chancellor (head of government). It is now negotiating a coalition with the conservative ÖVP, which has fallen to second place.
Remarks of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl caused concerns that, as head of government, he will attempt to domesticate critical media by withdrawing state press subsidies and public advertising. In particular, the public broadcaster ORF is to be brought into line with the government. To this end, the new fee financing system introduced only last year – compulsory contributions from every household and company in Austria – is to be abolished and replaced by budget contributions.
The Viennese FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp has savagely insulted the liberal daily newspaper ‘Der Standard’ and threatened to withdraw state funding and advertising. The FPÖ, which was also particularly critical of the EU during the election campaign and sits in the right-wing ‘Patriots for Europe’ group in the European Parliament, has a network of party-owned media – several magazines and two TV channels. No questions were allowed at FPÖ leader Kickl’s ‘press conference’ at the start of the coalition negotiations and several critical media such as the weekly newspapers ‘profil’ and ‘Falter’ were not allowed to attend.
In Germany, the far-right party ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) is stepping up its attacks on independent media, which it describes as a ‘lying press’.
The interview that AfD leader Alice Weidel gave to the head of ‘X’, Elon Musk, was criticised. The latter had previously described the AfD as the only party that could deal with the problems of migration in Germany. After the terrorist attack in Magdeburg, Musk also mocked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as a weakling.
A U.S. oligarch and close confidant of the new U.S. President Donald Trump has thus directly interfered in the German election campaign ahead of the federal elections at the end of February. As his platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) has also stopped fact-checking, the EU Commission is now demanding that ‘X’ disclose its algorithms and has initiated proceedings for violating the Digital Services Act, which prohibits fake news, disinformation and hate speech.
It is to be feared that the users of ‘X’ will increasingly receive one-sided and whitewashed reports about Trump’s activities via Musk’s influence. NGOs and platforms that investigate cases of disinformation are to lose state subsidies. Trump also wants to deal with state research institutions that investigate violations of media freedom or discrimination against dissidents. Trump sees this as censorship and a restriction of freedom of expression.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party has gained control of most of the media. Only a few independent media, especially on the internet, still report critically on the government.
In Slovakia, the left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is imitating this course. He has brought the public broadcaster completely under his control and has also reappointed most of the management positions. There are protests by employees and demonstrations.
In the EU, media freedom is seen as an integral part of European values. Conflicts between the USA and the EU can therefore also be expected in the area of media policy.
The AEJ, founded by journalists from Italy, France and Germany 1962 in San Remo (Italy), is an NGO dedicated to Media Freedom and European Integration. Currently the AEJ has more than 700 members in 16 European countries.
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