23/05/2025 Standing Committee
Opening a current affairs debate on the need to ensure the survival of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty during the Assembly’s Standing Committee meeting in Malta, Emanuelis Zingeris (Lithuania, EPP/CD) made an appeal for the EU to provide a “stable budget line” to support what he called “a beacon of truth for countries where press freedom is under threat” following the US government’s decision to withhold the channel’s funding.
Mr Zingeris said he had been listening to Radio Free Europe’s “neutral and professional news” all his life, describing the outlet as a “small BBC” and a voice of democracy for listeners in captive nations. “Millions of Russians and Belarusians are listening to Radio Free Europe at night,” he pointed out. “We must appeal for systematic support for our brothers who are fighting for freedom, being permanently imprisoned and endangered. Free peoples under dictatorships need this channel.”
"Facing hybrid propaganda attacks, we can’t afford to give our adversaries the gift of closing down objective voices from our side,” he added.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus also addressed the parliamentarians remotely from the channel’s headquarters in Prague, pointing out that it broadcast in 24 languages from six platforms and reached 47 million people each week, including nine per cent of Russia’s population, 35 per cent of Ukraine’s population and 10 per cent of Iran’s population. “We shine a spotlight in many areas where there is no longer a free media. As we have done for decades, we continue to be a lifeline for those who want to know what’s really happening,” he said. “We are grateful for the EU’s emergency funding, which is enough for us to keep going, but it’s not enough in the long term.”
Some 12 members took part in the debate.
