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Central Europe
April 27, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Political hostility to journalists intensifies in Central Europe
bne IntelliNews
The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are among the countries in Central Europe given particularly 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 authoritarian 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 dictator 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 inscribed 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 Slovakia 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
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.
defamation of the president. The level of media ownership concentration has become critical since new oligarchs 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 communi- ty, 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 in- stitutions that could protect them, Slovakia’s journalists 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 previous- ly owned by leading international media compa- nies have been acquired by local oligarchs whose main business interests lie outside journalism.”
Alongside Czechia and Slovakia, fellow Visegrad Four countries, Poland and Hungary, fell four places to 58th and two places to 73rd, respectively.