Reporters Without Borders is strengthening its presence in Central and Eastern Europe: the organisation has opened its first office in the region, located in Prague. From there, RSF aims to defend press freedom in countries such as Poland, Hungary and the Balkan states with even greater focus.
The international human rights organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) opened its first office in Central and Eastern Europe on Tuesday, 14 October. The new Prague office is intended to serve as a regional hub to support journalists in the region. The opening event, titled “Journalism at a Turning Point,” took place as part of the Forum 2000 conference on human rights.
The office is headed by Pavol Szalai, who previously led the European Union and Balkans section at RSF’s headquarters in Paris. The new RSF branch in Prague is located in the building of the Czech News Agency (ČTK) on Opletalova Street. With this opening, RSF now operates a total of 15 offices and sections worldwide.
“With our new office in Prague, we can support courageous media professionals in Central and Eastern Europe even more effectively,” said Ulrike Gruska, board member of the German RSF section, at the opening. “This is more necessary than ever in light of the growing influence of populist parties – not only in the Czech Republic. One of the key focuses of our work will be analysing Russian disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining trust in democratic institutions – a problem that also directly affects us in Germany.”
Concerns about media freedom in the Czech Republic
Although the Czech Republic currently ranks tenth on the Press Freedom Index, observers are concerned about the country’s political developments. The populist ANO party led by Andrej Babiš emerged as the clear winner of the parliamentary elections in early October. According to RSF, there are fears that the country could return to a period when Babiš, as Prime Minister (2017–2021), put pressure on independent media – while simultaneously facing conflicts of interest as the owner of several publishing houses.
RSF has also criticised Babiš’s proposal to finance public broadcasting directly from the state budget. Such a change could jeopardise editorial independence and expose public broadcasters to increased political influence.
A regional centre for press freedom
The new RSF office in Prague will monitor and report on violations of press freedom and the right to information in Central and Eastern Europe. It will also provide assistance to persecuted journalists. The office’s remit covers the Baltic states, the Visegrád countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), as well as the Balkans, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and the current EU accession candidates.
The new RSF office in Prague was opened with the support of Czech President Petr Pavel. Seznam.cz and the German section of Reporters Without Borders are supporting the office’s operations.
