freedom

Free press and freedom of speech are among democracy’s essential prerequisites; however, they should not be taken for granted. Published by the Republikon Institute, with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, The State of the Media in the Visegrád Countries provides a detailed insight into the media status in Central Europe.

The RSF report comes at a crunch time to note what other international organizations have expressed earlier: concerns about the treatment of journalists by the Greek Police, restrictions on coverage of the immigration issue, and direct or indirect effort of the Greek government to control the flow of information for political gain.

Certain Western European politicians think that in Hungary and Poland the rule of law has been damaged to a degree that is not compatible with the values of the EU. Meanwhile, the politicians of the criticized countries argue that the rule of law can differ between countries and is hard to define.

The battle for the new, non-partisan Ombudsman has been ongoing in Poland for a few months now. The governing coalition for a long time did not acknowledge the need to propose their own candidate, and naturally refused to back the candidate of the opposition.

The state of media freedom in Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia is increasingly getting worse. Independent news outlets are rarer and limited, and the governments directly threaten journalists. Media freedom is suffering.

The current pandemic and the previous lockdown had effects on several areas of life, including work and social life. However, there is a rather neglected sphere which is rarely discussed in the media compared with other topics.

2020 was a special year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The introduction of the restrictive measures had a negative effect on both human rights and the economy - which is true for both Hungary and the Netherlands.

On Consumer Choice Radio, Tanja Porčnik from the 4Liberty.eu Network partner Visio Institute in Slovenia discusses human rights in a pandemic, what the role of government should be, and how we can keep our elected leaders accountable.

In non-emergency times, the role of economic freedom, defined as a lack of interference or coercion by others in an individual’s economic decisions, has been scientifically proven to yield economic growth and prosperity for the greatest number of people.

After the resignation of Jüri Ratas (Estonian Center Party) on January 13th, due to an inquiry entailing alleged corruption charges against his party, Kaja Kallas, the center-right Reform Party’s leader, has become the first female Estonian Prime Minister.