Europe & Central Asia

Hungary’s new government has taken promising first steps to restore press freedom after years of state capture under former prime minister Viktor Orbán, but authorities must now move beyond quick fixes to deliver transparent, durable reforms that ensure the media is protected from any and all political interference. After his Tisza party won a  landslide…

Berlin, July 20, 2026—Italian authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of sports journalist Luca Esposito, whose charred body was found on a farm in southern Italy on Sunday, and determine whether his death was linked to his journalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Firefighters found 53-year-old Esposito’s charred body…

The Committee to Protect Journalists and partner organizations on Thursday published a report documenting rising attacks, threats, police violence, and smear campaigns against journalists in Serbia, as well as persistent impunity for those responsible. Based on an international fact-finding mission to Belgrade in March 2026, the report also examines legal and digital threats to the…

More than eight years after the assassination of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sent shockwaves through Europe, all eyes are once again on the capital Valletta, where the alleged mastermind of her murder has been on trial since July 1.  Yorgen Fenech, a powerful businessman, is standing trial on a charge of complicity in murder…

New York, July 9, 2026—CPJ is concerned about a Ukrainian court’s decision to ban the publication of a journalistic investigation into the assets and business activities of the brother of a high-ranking Ukrainian official, in what appears to be an unprecedented move. On July 6, a court in Kyiv, the capital, issued an order prohibiting the Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info, the Ukrainian…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 26 other press freedom and human rights organizations Wednesday in condemning the detentions and arrests of at least 11 journalists in the past two weeks leading up to the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8. “The targeting of critical journalists also cannot be viewed in isolation,” the statement…

Istanbul, July 8, 2026—Turkey should put an end to arbitrary detentions and arrests of journalists following the recent detaining of at least 11 members of the press ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Three of the journalists who were taken into police custody in Turkey between June…

Berlin, July 8, 2026—German authorities must conduct a swift and transparent investigation into attacks on at least four journalists who were covering protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during its annual conference on Saturday in Erfurt, eastern Germany, and bring all perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. Three…

On July 6, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined over 30 partners in calling on the European Union to address the abuse of spyware in Europe. The statement followed a forensic analysis by Citizen Lab that revealed how Stelios Kouloglou, former Member of the European Parliament and investigative journalist, was targeted and infected with Pegasus…

Websites of at least six exiled Belarusian news outlets and one journalists’ association have been targeted since March by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which aim to overwhelm websites with floods of internet traffic.  Staff at several of the affected outlets said the increasingly frequent attacks appear to extend a pattern of transnational repression linked to…