21/10/2010
Albania, Croatia and Moldova are the only Southeast European countries to have improved their rankings on one key index of press freedom.
(Reporters Without Borders, DPA, AFP, VOA, RFE/RL, HotNews.ro, Croatian Times, Makfax, Sofia News Agency, Sofia Echo - 20/10/10)
Press freedom in many EU member states and in the majority of Balkan countries hoping to join the 27-nation bloc is deteriorating overall, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned in its ninth annual World Press Freedom Index, released on Wednesday (October 20th).
"It is disturbing to see several EU member countries continuing to fall in the index," the Paris-based media watchdog said. "If it does not pull itself together, the European Union risks losing its position as world leader in respect for human rights. And if that were to happen, how could it be convincing when it asked authoritarian regimes to make improvements?"
This year's survey reflects press freedom violations that took place during the 12-month period to September 1st 2010. Each of the 178 countries included in the index is given a ranking and a score, ranging from 0 (best) to 105.00 (worst).
Bulgaria and Greece fared worst among the EU member states, dropping two and 35 slots, respectively, to join Benin, Comoros and Kenya in 70th place.
Greece's fall from its 2009 35th place ranking was due "to political unrest and physical attacks on several journalists", RSF explained.
Other EU states that lost ground this year included Portugal (40th), France (44th), Cyprus (45th), Italy (49th) and Romania (52nd).
Romania, which was ranked 50th among the 175 countries included in last year's index, "now considers the media a threat to national security and plans to legally censor its activities", the group said.
The state of press freedom in most of the Southeast European (SEE) nations aspiring for EU membership also deteriorated over the survey period. Macedonia's fall to 68th place, down from 34th last year, constituted the most substantial loss within the region.
Montenegro fell 27 slots to share 104th with Angola and Niger. Meanwhile, Serbia dropped 23 places to rank 85th in the world today, while Kosovo lost 17 positions to take 92nd. Bosnia and Herzegovina -- the only SEE country, aside from Cyprus, to make the top 50 -- moved to the 47th place, down from 39th a year ago.
"The Balkan Peninsula is still a concern and has recorded major changes … Although the legislative reforms required for accession to the EU have been adopted in most Balkan countries, their implementation is still in the embryonic -- if not non-existent -- stage," RSF noted.
Turkey, the worst performer among the SEE nations, fell 16 slots to 138th place this year. RSF attributed the decline mainly to "the frensied proliferation of lawsuits, incarcerations, and court sentencing targeting journalists".
"It is disturbing to see several EU member countries continuing to fall in the index," the Paris-based media watchdog said. "If it does not pull itself together, the European Union risks losing its position as world leader in respect for human rights. And if that were to happen, how could it be convincing when it asked authoritarian regimes to make improvements?"
This year's survey reflects press freedom violations that took place during the 12-month period to September 1st 2010. Each of the 178 countries included in the index is given a ranking and a score, ranging from 0 (best) to 105.00 (worst).
Bulgaria and Greece fared worst among the EU member states, dropping two and 35 slots, respectively, to join Benin, Comoros and Kenya in 70th place.
Greece's fall from its 2009 35th place ranking was due "to political unrest and physical attacks on several journalists", RSF explained.
Other EU states that lost ground this year included Portugal (40th), France (44th), Cyprus (45th), Italy (49th) and Romania (52nd).
Romania, which was ranked 50th among the 175 countries included in last year's index, "now considers the media a threat to national security and plans to legally censor its activities", the group said.
The state of press freedom in most of the Southeast European (SEE) nations aspiring for EU membership also deteriorated over the survey period. Macedonia's fall to 68th place, down from 34th last year, constituted the most substantial loss within the region.
Montenegro fell 27 slots to share 104th with Angola and Niger. Meanwhile, Serbia dropped 23 places to rank 85th in the world today, while Kosovo lost 17 positions to take 92nd. Bosnia and Herzegovina -- the only SEE country, aside from Cyprus, to make the top 50 -- moved to the 47th place, down from 39th a year ago.
"The Balkan Peninsula is still a concern and has recorded major changes … Although the legislative reforms required for accession to the EU have been adopted in most Balkan countries, their implementation is still in the embryonic -- if not non-existent -- stage," RSF noted.
Turkey, the worst performer among the SEE nations, fell 16 slots to 138th place this year. RSF attributed the decline mainly to "the frensied proliferation of lawsuits, incarcerations, and court sentencing targeting journalists".
The only countries in the region to have improved their rankings were Albania (80th), Croatia (62nd) and Moldova (75th), which moved up eight, 16 and 39 places, respectively.
Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland -- the six European countries that have topped the index since its first edition in 2002, tied for the top spot once again with the best possible score. Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran and Burma were ranked lowest, as the world's most repressive regimes towards journalists.
RSF voiced concern that only ten other EU nations, aside from Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, made it into the group of the world's 20 best performers, and that some of the other 14 members of the Union were very low in the ranking.
"The EU is not a homogenous whole as regards media freedom," the group said. "On the contrary, the gap between good and bad performers continues to widen."
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland -- the six European countries that have topped the index since its first edition in 2002, tied for the top spot once again with the best possible score. Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Iran and Burma were ranked lowest, as the world's most repressive regimes towards journalists.
RSF voiced concern that only ten other EU nations, aside from Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, made it into the group of the world's 20 best performers, and that some of the other 14 members of the Union were very low in the ranking.
"The EU is not a homogenous whole as regards media freedom," the group said. "On the contrary, the gap between good and bad performers continues to widen."
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
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