The exhilarating prospect of broad press freedoms that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago has faded dramatically in much of the post-communist world. A considerable decline in press freedom conditions in Russia during the last year, along with the stranglehold authoritarian leaders have imposed on media in Central Asia, the Caucasus,…
Widespread poverty, faltering political and economic reforms, and slowing progress toward European Union membership continue to inhibit the expansion of press freedom in Romania, where Ion Iliescu and his leftist coalition won presidential and parliamentary elections held in late 2000.
POLITICAL REFORMS AND ECONOMIC GROWTH, along with the advent of democratic governments in Croatia and Serbia, brightened the security prospects for journalists in Central Europe and the Balkans. In contrast, Russian’s new government imposed press restrictions, and authoritarian regimes entrenched themselves in other countries of the former Soviet Union, particularly in Central Asia, further threatening…
MEDIA REFORMS INITIATED AFTER ROMANIA WAS INVITED to apply to join the European Union in November 1999 achieved only limited progress, and the country’s politicians spent much of the year debating laws that would limit, rather than promote, press freedom. The parliament also failed to eliminate or reduce criminal penalties for defamation, and journalists in…
By Chrystyna Lapychak Wars in Yugoslavia and Chechnya dominated regional and international headlines in 1999. The conflicts raised the journalists’ death toll in the region and prompted crackdowns, as governments blocked access to war zones and engaged in propaganda campaigns.
Political shakeouts and instability once again plagued Romania, complicating its hopes for admission to the European Union (EU). In December, President Emil Constantinescu effectively ousted Prime Minister Radu Vasile from the government and replaced his entire cabinet. Often blamed for the country’s continuing economic decline, Vasile was also evicted from the ruling Christian Democratic National…
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed by two recent violent attacks against journalists investigating corruption in Romania. On September 23, Marian Tudor, a reporter with the daily Jurnalul de Constantain the Black Sea port of Constanta, was assaulted by two unidentified assailants aboard a train traveling from Constanta to Bucharest. Tudor was delivering edited manuscripts for that day’s edition of Jurnalul de Constantato a printer in the capital.