European Union

While some governments in Central Asia and Eastern Europe are taking small steps forward regarding the media, 2002 was another dismal year for press freedom in much of the region. In some countries, a growing concern about Western public opinion resulted in a shift from blatant attacks to more subtle, covert tactics to control national…

During 2002, Bulgaria was invited to join NATO in 2004, but the European Union (EU) postponed Bulgaria’s admission until 2007 at the earliest. The EU’s decision reflected concern about the country’s economic underdevelopment, rampant corruption, weak judiciary, and politicized Prosecutor General’s Office. Bulgarian journalists, meanwhile, spent much of 2002 covering local drug gangs and police…

While Cambodia’s many boisterous newspapers are generally free from official sanction, the broadcast media remain captive to the political interests of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his allies. Because Cambodia has a low literacy rate and poor newspaper distribution outside the capital, Phnom Penh, the press there will not be completely free until restrictions on…

The gradual stabilization of the western Balkans, combined with closer bilateral ties to neighboring Yugoslavia, encouraged some increased diversity in Croatia’s media during 2002. On January 7, for example, national Croatian Radio Television (HRT) broadcast a Serbian Orthodox Christmas service for the first time since the country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. In May,…

Despite having joined NATO in 1999 and being a front-runner for European Union membership in 2004, many senior politicians in the Czech Republic remain hostile toward the country’s feisty press and regularly obstruct critical media coverage of political scandals.

As Hungary continues its progress toward European Union (EU) membership in 2004, a change in government in April led to the appointment of new officials in charge of public television. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative government, defeated in April elections, had previously used its political influence to pressure the public broadcasting service to provide positive…

Political instability and social unrest plagued Moldova in 2002, with disenfranchised groups struggling against the country’s authoritarian president, Vladimir Voronin, and his ruling Communist Party. The country’s small and beleaguered nonstate media suffered from the feeble economy and official harassment, while state print and broadcast media endured heavy-handed censorship.

Government officials, wary of any media coverage that could potentially threaten the country’s efforts to join NATO and the European Union, used threats and intimidation to promote docile reporting–resulting in increased self-censorship in 2002.

Slovaks voted for a moderate, center-right coalition of reformist parties in September parliamentary elections, continuing the country’s course toward NATO and European Union membership. However, during 2002, the government’s limited tolerance of criticism, sluggish reform of the state media, and tentative progress toward decriminalizing libel laws reflected a lack of political will in developing a…

Press freedom is generally respected in Slovenia, but journalists investigating sensitive issues continue to face occasional intimidation or pressure in retaliation for their coverage.