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EU Adopts Act to Safeguard Media

washington — The European Parliament has adopted a media freedom act designed to protect journalists and their work from political and economic interference.

The idea for the European Media Freedom Act was introduced in 2022 after the EU raised concerns about media pluralism in countries such as Hungary and Poland.

The act is focused on independence, stable funding of public service media, and transparency of media ownership. It also includes protections for journalists from harassment by authorities, regulation of spyware used to target journalists, and measures to protect journalistic sources.

Media rights organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute largely welcomed the act but also said the text’s language and standards could be stronger.

One core issue in the act is media capture. This can happen through government efforts to control or pressure public service media outlets, the retaliatory use of state advertising allocations, or media outlet takeovers by government allies in the business world.

In Hungary, for example, a media conglomerate consolidated nearly 500 outlets into a foundation and put them under the control of a foundation run by supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

Oliver Money-Kyrle, of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), viewed the act’s focus on media capture as an important step in responding to what he said was a “growing crisis.”

One way the act will do this is by having governments distribute any media advertising revenue in an objective and nondiscriminatory manner and providing transparent annual reports about how funds are distributed.

But the clause has exemptions for “subnational” governments, said Money-Kyrle, who leads IPI’s Europe Advocacy and Programs department.

Local authorities that oversee territories with populations of fewer than 100,000 are exempt. Not extending the requirements to these places is a “missed opportunity,” Money-Kyrle told VOA.

The act will also establish the European Board for Media Services, which will be made up of international media regulators. The board will examine cases of governments threatening editorial independence and media pluralism.

The board will have power to intervene and demand justification and explanation from national governments or from member state media regulators, said Money-Kyrle.

Responsibility for enforcement of the act will fall to member states to ensure that their laws fit regulations, said Tom Gibson, of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Gibson, who is the CPJ EU representative and advocacy manager for CPJ, said the act would “put pressure” on member states to act. 

“It’s an enormous step,” he said of the act’s adoption. “The next enormous step is the implementation of it.”

Money-Kyrle said the IPI would be looking at how EU countries adopt it.

“One of the things that we [IPI] will be urging is that member states, as they change their national laws to fit in with this EU regulation, don’t just have laws that meet the minimum standards provided by the EMFA, but they go further,” said Money-Kyrle.

Following the adoption, IPI released a statement signed by several human rights organizations, including the Civil Liberties Union for Europe and Reporters Without Borders.

While the statement congratulated the EU institutions and welcomed the act, it also emphasized that the regulations could go “much further” in establishing safeguards.

“We now call on the European Commission, national governments and independent regulatory authorities to work closely with media stakeholders for the EMFA’s full and effective implementation to help strengthen media freedom and pluralism across the European Union,” the statement said.

Позиція США щодо відправки військ до України не змінилася – Білий дім

«Ми чітко висловили свою позицію, яка полягає в тому, що ми не маємо наміру відправляти наші війська в Україну», – сказав Джейк Салліван

Міноборони спростило процедуру отримання офіцерського звання для мобілізованих медиків

«Після завершення освітнього процесу мобілізовані медичні працівники не лише отримають офіцерське звання, а й можливість повернутися у підрозділ, щоб працювати на більш відповідній для себе посаді»

«Санкції проти Росії не працюють» – сенатор США Ліндсі Ґрем

Сенатор США також додав, що такі країни, як Індія, Китай та інші, які мають справу з Росією, «роблять це на свій страх і ризик»

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Речником Повітряних сил ЗСУ призначили майора Іллю Євлаша

У Повітряних силах кажуть, що Євлаш проходив службу в Командуванні Сухопутних військ на посаді старшого офіцера служби звʼязків з громадськістю

У Міноборони пояснили, для чого потрібен електронний військовий квиток

«Це виписка з реєстру, яка свідчитиме про обліковий статус громадянина»

На ставці обговорили виконання контрактів на закупівлі зброї та снарядів – Зеленський

Також на засіданні ставки головнокомандувач Сирський доповідав про ситуацію на основних напрямках активних дій, заявив президент

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Russian Opposition Activists in Seattle Remember Navalny as Putin Claims Victory

In Seattle, there were no polling stations for Russian citizens to join the worldwide movement known as “Noon Against Putin,” a symbolic protest of the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Instead, they commemorated opposition leader Alexey Navalny and wrote letters to the growing list of political prisoners in Russia. Natasha Mozgovaya has the story.

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AFP Journalist Among 50 Detained at Kurdish Event in Turkey

Istanbul — Around 50 people including an AFP journalist were detained by police Sunday in Istanbul on the sidelines of the Kurdish New Year celebrations, witnesses said.  

AFP video journalist Eylul Yasar was preparing to film the celebrations of the Kurdish New Year when she was arrested at a checkpoint, journalists and lawyers at the scene reported.

She was released after being handcuffed and held by police for more than six hours, along with another 14 people locked up in the same van.

Yasar said she had been arrested and taken away in a police van after objecting to an “intrusive” and “brutal” body search.

She and the others being held in her van were insulted by police, she said, who called them “pig droppings, terrorists, traitors.”

Two journalists from the Bianet news site who were filming the arrests said they were beaten and thrown to the ground by police.

A statement from Agence France-Presse said: “AFP deplores the detention of our journalist Eylul Yasar who was just doing her job.

“While it welcomes her release, AFP calls on the Turkish authorities to respect the rights of journalists and to treat them with respect.”

Erol Onderoglu, correspondent with media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Turkey, denounced Yasar’s “arbitrary arrest, which prevented her from doing her job.”

He had earlier said that around 50 people who came to attend the celebrations, which normally include traditional dances and a large bonfire, were also arrested at the site.

An AFP photographer said the bonfire had been canceled.

Many Kurds, who make up about a fifth of Turkey’s estimated 85 million people, say they face significant discrimination in the country.

The former leading figure of the main pro-Kurdish party, Selahattin Demirtas, was imprisoned in 2016 for “terrorist propaganda,” while more than a hundred mayors of Kurdish localities saw elections canceled in the last municipal vote in 2019.

Turkey has repeatedly insisted that it does not discriminate against Kurds as a minority but rather opposes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization banned by Ankara and its Western allies as a terrorist organization.

According to the RSF, Turkey last year ranked in 164th place out of 180 countries on its index of press freedom.

That marks a drop of 16 places from 2022.

European Far-Right Firebrand Prevented From Speaking at Swiss Event

Berlin — A prominent European far-right figure was prevented from giving a speech at an event in Switzerland and thrown out of the region where it was taking place.

Martin Sellner of the Identitarian Movement said in a video posted on social media network X, formerly Twitter, that he had been invited by a local group, Junge Tat (Young Deed), to “talk about remigration and the ethnic vote” and what happened at a recent meeting in Germany that prompted a string of large protests there. Remigration refers to the return, sometimes forced, of non-ethnically European immigrants back to their place of racial origin.

Sellner, who comes from neighboring Austria, said that a few minutes after he started speaking at the event Saturday, the electricity was turned off and he was taken to a police station, then told he was thrown out of Aargau canton (state) and escorted to Zurich.

Regional police said in a statement that they tracked down the Junge Tat event in the small town of Tegerfelden on Saturday after receiving several tips. They found some 100 people at the venue and said that, after the landlady found out about the contents of the planned meeting, she canceled the contract for it.

Police said they told organizers to end the event, but they didn’t obey. Without identifying Sellner by name, they said the speaker was held and ordered out of the region “to safeguard public security” and prevent confrontations with opponents.

Germany has seen large protests of the far right following a report that extremists met in Potsdam in November to discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship. Sellner presented his “remigration” vision for the deportation of immigrants there.

That meeting has prompted widespread criticism of the Alternative for Germany party, some of whose members reportedly attended. The party has sought to distance itself from the event, while also decrying the reporting of it.

Зеленський: «жодної легітимності» у виборів президента Росії немає

«За все, що зроблено російськими вбивцями в цій війні та заради путінської довічної влади, має бути справедлива відплата», сказав президент

Кірбі: через брак боєприпасів ЗСУ на Донбасі «відходять на другу та третю лінії оборони»

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Protests, Petrol, and Passports Mark Final Day of Russian Elections

An outpouring of international protests marked the third and final day of voting in Russia’s presidential elections, as supporters of the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny heeded on of his last calls to action. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more.

Transnistria Blames Ukrainian Drone Strike After Military Site Explosion

Медіа: МОК дозволить виступити на Олімпіаді в Парижі близько 40 російським спортсменам

«Вочевидь, деякі спортсмени можуть вирішити не їхати, якщо вони не представлятимуть Росію», припустив віцепрезидент комітету

Уповноважений чеського уряду з відновлення України розповів, як Чехія допомагає постраждалим від війни

«Потрібно створити інфраструктуру для догляду за тими, хто сам постраждав від злочинів, а також постраждав від наслідків, ставши їх свідками»

Greece Alarmed by Rising Tides of Migrants 

Athens — Greece is facing increasing illegal immigration as the Gaza crisis continues. The trend has Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and senior European Union officials heading to Egypt Sunday to sign an aid package worth just over $8 billion intended to help ease migration.

A surge in illegal migration has seen numbers entering Greece swell by more than 400% in the last month alone.

Palestinians rank high in these flows but Egyptians are increasingly following suit.

“There is no doubt, that Egypt has suffered the greatest fallout of the crisis in Gaza,” said Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Keridis. “And as if the country and its economy was not strained enough, the Gaza crisis and inflow of Palestinians has exacerbated the situation, setting Egyptians to a massive flight.”

Since the start of the year, Greece’s southernmost islands of Crete and Gavdos have been hardest hit with daily flows of Egyptians landing on their shores, seeking refuge to the West via Libya.

On Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will travel to Cairo with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to finalize an $8.06 billion aid package to shore up the Egyptian economy and help stem the tide of illegal immigration.

Under the planned deal, a first tranche of $1 billion will be dispersed immediately as emergency financial assistance. The rest, will be tied to economic reforms.

Greece has been a favored gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia since 2015, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, causing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Thousands others have since then died at sea.

The migration crisis has seen Greece take a strong-arm approach to fend off illegal flows, triggering, however, accusations that it is pushing back migrants on rickety rafts, endangering their lives, even torturing them upon arrival.

Authorities have largely refuted the accusations but migrants are increasingly speaking up.

Last week, four Greek bodyguards were arrested for beating a migrant, battering his face and breaking his ribs, according to a migrant’s testimony.

An urgent investigation is underway.

European Union Announces $8 Billion Package of Aid for Egypt

Cairo — The European Union on Sunday announced a $8 billion aid package for cash-strapped Egypt amid concerns that economic pressure and conflicts and chaos in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores.

The deal is scheduled to be signed during a visit by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece, according to Egyptian officials. 

The package includes both grants and loans over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country, according to the European Union Mission in Cairo. 

According to a document from the EU mission in Egypt, the two sides have promoted their cooperation to the level of a “strategic and comprehensive partnership,” paving the way for expanding Egypt-EU cooperation in various economic and non-economic areas. 

The EU will provide assistance to Egypt’s government to fortify its borders especially with Libya, a major transit point for migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and will support the government in hosting Sudanese who have fled nearly a year of fighting between rival generals in their country. 

Egypt has for decades been a refuge for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to escape war or poverty. For some, Egypt is a destination and a haven, the closest and easiest country for them to reach. For others, it is a point of transit before attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. 

While the Egyptian coast has not been a major launching pad for people smugglers and human traffickers sending overcrowded boats across the Mediterranean to Europe, Egypt faces migratory pressures from the region, with the added looming threat that the Israel-Hamas war will spill across its borders. 

The package drew criticism from international rights groups over Egypt’s human rights record. Amnesty International decried the deal and urged European leaders not to be complicit with human rights violations taking place in Egypt. 

“EU leaders must ensure that the Egyptian authorities adopt clear benchmarks for human rights, said Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie in a statement. Geddie pointed to Egypt’s restrictions on media and freedom of expression and a crackdown on civil society.