Khadija Ismayilova and Benjamin Best are awarded this year’s “Prize for the Freedom and Future of the Media” by the Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) partners, journalist bodies, free expression and journalist support organisations are concerned about the legal threats made against EUobserver in Luxembourg and Belgium and call to stop the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) actions across Europe. Left unreformed, such legal threats will be sufficient to silence media workers and outlets. We stand in solidarity with EUobserver and will continue to monitor developments around the case.

The German Presidency of the Council of the European Union begins at a difficult time, in which concerted efforts from across the social, economical and political spectrum are required. We urge Germany to proactively lead the Member States in the Council towards effective solutions that will bring about real progress and overcome challenges, to press and media freedom in Europe.

A legal opinion commissioned by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) finds that the Hungarian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic fails to live up to domestic or European legal standards and entrenches the country’s attacks on independent media outlets, journalists and media workers.