World Press Freedom Day 2025:  Joint Statement to the OSCE
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-08)

UK and others call for action to safeguard media freedom across the OSCE.

Madam Chair,

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following participating States that are members of the informal Group of Friends on Safety of Journalists: Austria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and my own country France.

Last week, on 3 May, we marked the World Press Freedom Day. This day serves as a reminder for States to respect their commitments and obligations regarding press freedom. It is also an opportunity for us all to show our support for media that are affected by restrictions of press freedom, and a day of remembrance of journalists and media actors who lost their lives in the line of duty.

As the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media has consistently highlighted: there is no security without media freedom. There can be no media freedom if journalists and other media actors cannot work safely and freely. Despite ample commitments and obligations in the field of human rights, media freedom and the safety of journalists, the challenges in the OSCE area are manifold. Journalists and media actors are being harassed, threatened, imprisoned or even killed. Legislation seeking to restrict the space for civil society, journalists and media actors is being implemented in several participating States. Challenges in the digital sphere, such as disinformation, information manipulation and smear campaigns, adverse impacts of AI, and online violence and harassment spurring physical attacks, all pose additional pressure on the safety of journalists and media freedom in the OSCE area. As highlighted by the RFoM, female journalists face a double burden as they are being attacked as journalists and as women.

More than three years into Russia’s unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine, with the complicity of Belarus, media freedom and the safety of journalists continue to be severely affected. According to Reporters Without Borders, 13 journalists have been killed by Russian forces, at least 47 Ukrainian and foreign journalists have been injured while reporting due to attacks by Russian armed forces. According to the International Press Institute, at least 20 Ukrainian journalists are currently in Russian captivity. The Moscow Mechanism report of April 2024 also found that journalists are among the thousands of Ukrainian civilians arbitrarily detained by Russia. We continue to be deeply concerned about the treatment of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna. Russia continues attacking media facilities in Ukraine. On 13 April 2025, several media offices in Sumy were damaged as a result of a Russian strike. On the night of 6 April 2025, an office building in Kyiv used by Inomovlennya, Ukraine’s state service for foreign broadcasting, was damaged as a result of Russian strikes on the city.

In Russia, the systematic, state-sponsored repression is intensifying, including through the silencing of dissenting voices, civil society and independent media. Also in Belarus, the systematic and widespread repression continues unabated and intensifies. At least 38 journalists and media actors are currently detained in Russia, and 45 in Belarus. We call on Russia and Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained and imprisoned, including journalists and media actors.

We are following with deep concern the developments regarding media freedom and how it is affected by the spread of so-called “foreign agents” laws and other legislation restricting the possibilities for journalists and media actors to operate. In Georgia, the rushed adoption of repressive legislation is fundamentally incompatible with core democratic principles. We repeat our call on Georgia to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists and media actors arbitrarily detained or arrested, and to engage in genuine dialogue with the RFoM and ODIHR. In Azerbaijan, there has been a concerning increase in cases against independent journalists and free media outlets. We call on Azerbaijan to honour its OSCE commitments and ensure all its citizens due legal process and access to free and independent media. All those detained for exercising their fundamental rights should be released. Regarding Türkiye, we echo the statement by the RFoM calling for the swift release of journalists arrested while covering recent demonstrations.

Madam Chair,

Let us take the opportunity of the World Press Freedom Day to honor those journalists and media actors that risk their lives and safety to keep us informed, and to reiterate our commitment to implementing our joint commitments and international obligations in the field of human rights and media freedom.

I thank you and request that you attach a copy of this statement to the Journal of the Day.