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Central Europe
May 4, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Political hostility to journalists intensifies from Central Europe to Eurasia
bne IntelliNews
Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Poland are among the coun- tries in Central Europe and Eurasia given particu- larly dishonourable mentions in the latest annual World Press Freedom Index released on April 25 by Reporters Without Borders.
Warning that “hostility towards the media from political leaders is no longer limited to authoritar- ian countries” such as Turkey and Egypt, the RSF Index 2018 ranks 180 nations and hits out at the malign influence of US President Donald Trump, calling him “a media-bashing enthusiast” and noting his referencing of journalists as “enemies of the people”—a term once used by Soviet dicta- tor Josef Stalin.
The index also takes aim at two other populists, Czech President Milos Zeman and former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. The former appeared at a press conference with a fake Kalashnikov in- scribed with the words “for journalists”, while the latter resorted to calling journalists “dirty, anti- Slovak prostitutes”. The Czech Republic is down 11 places at 34th in the latest rankings while Slo- vakia has fallen 10 places to 27th.
Part of the report entry on the Czech Republic says: “Re-elected in January 2018, Zeman has
a weakness for this kind of provocation and has described journalists as ‘manure’ and ‘hyenas.’ There is also concern about several newly-drafted bills that would increase the range of criminal penalties for defamation, especially defamation
of the president. The level of media ownership
Slovaks took to the streets (here in Brno) in such numbers after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova in February that the government fell.
concentration has become critical since new oli- garchs began using their fortunes in 2008 to buy newspapers in order to reinforce their influence. One of these oligarchs, Prime Minister Andrej Babis, owns one of the Czech Republic’s most influential daily newspapers.
In Slovakia, investigative reporter Jan Kuciak’s murder in February triggered an unprecedented political earthquake, toppling Fico, and sent shockwaves through the international community, the index report notes. Kuciak had being doing research for the Aktuality.sk website on alleged links between the Italian mafia and Smer-SD, the left-populist party heading the ruling coalition.
The report adds: “In the absence of strong insti- tutions that could protect them, Slovakia’s jour- nalists are increasingly exposed to all kinds of harassment, intimidation, and abuse. Kuciak’s murder has revived questions about the unex- plained disappearances of two journalists, one in 2008 and the other in 2015, and has put the issue of journalists’ safety back on the agenda. In recent years, Slovak media that were previously owned by leading international media companies have been acquired by local oligarchs whose main business interests lie outside journalism.”
Alongside Czechia and Slovakia, fellow Viseg- rad Four countries, Poland and Hungary, fell four places to 58th and two places to 73rd, respectively.
Of Poland, the index report states: “Nothing seems to be able to stop Law and Justice, the