On the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists on November 2, Executive Vice-President Hena Virkunen, High Representative Kaia Kalas, and Commissioner Michael McGrath issued the following statement:

“Freedom of the press is the heart of democracy. Society relies on journalists to shine a light on injustice and hold those in power accountable. However, around the world, journalists are still being murdered, tortured, harassed, imprisoned and driven into exile.

The International Federation of Journalists has documented how deadly the search for truth has been in 2025, in many parts of the world.

International humanitarian law is clear: journalists are civilians and must be protected at all times. Any attack against them must be investigated immediately, independently and effectively. All perpetrators must be held accountable.

The European Union (EU) supports independent journalism worldwide and provides protection to those at risk. We are also working to address growing threats in the digital sphere, where journalists increasingly face coordinated harassment, illegal surveillance, as well as campaigns to discredit or intimidate them.

Since 2015, through the ProtectDefender.EU mechanism, the EU has directly supported almost 13,000 journalists at risk worldwide — 943 of them between September 2024 and August 2025 alone. Two new EU-funded projects, worth a total of €20 million, will now support independent media in more than 40 countries, with a particular focus on women journalists, reporting on minority groups, and in areas with limited news coverage.

In the EU, promoting pluralism and media freedom is at the heart of EU efforts to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. The European Media Freedom Regulation established strong guarantees for the media and journalists so that they can carry out their work without undue pressure. The European Commission continues to monitor developments related to media freedom and pluralism, e.g. on the safety and protection of journalists in all EU Member States, as well as in some enlargement countries, through the annual reports on the rule of law. In addition, the EU supports a pan-European rapid reaction mechanism to monitor and support media freedom and the safety of journalists, currently implemented by MFRR.eu.

The work of journalists enables societies to see clearly — and to take action. On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, we call on all states to live up to their obligations: to protect men and women journalists and to hold those in positions of power accountable.”

Nikos Andritsos