Media freedom in Finland and Greece - Main contents

Last week I was in Egypt - meeting a lot of bloggers and activists working for reform. Online tools played a big part in Egypt’s fight for freedom; and they are still hard at work.

It’s an important reminder of the role that freedom of expression continues to play around the world.

But two stories this week reminded me that media freedom is not just an issue beyond our borders, but also something we must defend here in the EU.

First, in Finland there is terrible news of death threats made against journalists and public figures. Death threats are unacceptable against anybody. But in this case, there is also a particular threat to freedom of speech, and to our cultural and linguistic diversity.

Such threats have no place in civilised democratic debate. Journalists in Finland have a right to communicate in Swedish and I absolutely applaud those defending that right. I wish every success to the police investigation, so that the perpetrators can be held to account.

Meanwhile in Greece, the saga continues of journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, now facing a retrial for publishing the so-called “Lagarde list” of suspected tax evaders: even though he has already been tried, and been acquitted. This is not just a challenge to media freedom. It’s also a distraction from the really interesting issue at stake: helping tackle tax evasion, something in the interests of all Greek taxpayers. Raising those issues in the public interest is exactly why we need a free and pluralistic media sector. And this is an issue I will continue to watch very closely.