Negative record for press freedom: 29% more threats against journalists last year

The media in Europe is in a major risk area regarding freedom of expression, and official data shows that we are no longer talking about isolated incidents, but about a systemic degradation of the journalistic climate, according to the European press freedom report, published yesterday and prepared by the partner organizations of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists.

According to the cited document, the year 2025 was marked by an alarming increase in threats, violence and political pressure on the media. In 2025, 344 alerts were published on serious threats to press freedom, 29% more than in 2024, when 266 were recorded. Since the launch of the Platform in April 2015, more than 2,300 alerts have been published, and their number has steadily increased, from 106 in 2015 to more than 330 in 2025. A quarter of these target attacks on the physical safety and integrity of journalists, including 53 deaths in the last decade. The report shows that in 2025, four Ukrainian journalists - Olena Hramova, Yevhen Karmazin, Tetyana Kulyk and French photojournalist Antoni Lallican - were killed in Russian drone attacks and at least six journalists were injured as a result of direct fire from Russian forces. In the occupied Ukrainian territories, the situation is dramatic: at least 26 Ukrainian journalists remain in Russian captivity, many of them convicted on fabricated charges of "terrorism”, "treason” or "sabotage”. The case of Viktoria Roshchyna, who disappeared in 2023 and was later confirmed dead in custody, with signs of torture on her body, shocked the international community. The European Court of Human Rights ruled on 9 July 2025 that Russia is responsible for systematic human rights violations in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, including by using wartime censorship laws to arrest journalists. The cited document states that media repression has also been strengthened inside Russia. Laws that criminalize discrediting the armed forces or spreading false information have become tools of intimidation and condemnation. At the end of 2025, at least 13 Russian journalists were serving prison sentences under these articles, and 36 were convicted on charges related to terrorism, extremism or high treason.

The report shows that, in total, as of December 31, 2025, 148 journalists and other media actors were detained in Europe: 58 in Russia, 36 in Azerbaijan, 27 in Belarus, 24 in Turkey, two in Armenia and one in Georgia.

Violence against journalists during protests has become a frequent practice, according to data in the report, which mentions that last year there was an increase in this phenomenon, with the highest levels reported in Georgia, Serbia and Turkey. In Turkey, after a ban on public gatherings following the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, at least 12 journalists were physically assaulted by police in just a few days, and 11 others were detained in early morning raids. In Serbia, journalists were beaten by police and supporters of the ruling party during protests that erupted after the collapse of the Novi Sad train station canopy. In Georgia, reporters and cameramen were beaten, prevented from filming, and even blocked at the border. Similar attacks were reported in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, and Romania.

The report also addresses digital surveillance, which remains a serious threat to media freedom. The document contains cases of the use of spyware against journalists in Italy and Serbia, despite previous scandals, even though the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which entered into full force in August 2025 in the European Union, prohibits the use of spyware against journalists. At the same time, Russia and Belarus use international police cooperation mechanisms to track journalists in exile, including through red notices and extradition requests. Exile has, in fact, become a reality for at least 1,500 Russian journalists from almost 70 media outlets, the document also states, which states that the funding of these newsrooms is increasingly fragile. Drastic cuts in international funds have deeply affected the independent press in Eastern Europe. A survey conducted among Belarusian newsrooms in exile shows that six out of 30 organizations no longer have any funding at all, risking total closure. The weakening of international media outlets that covered abuses in authoritarian states has left a major void in the information landscape.

The imposition of fear also has a structural dimension, the report says, noting that last year, 90 of the 344 alerts concerned attacks on the physical safety of journalists. As of 31 December 2025, 51 cases of murdered journalists remained unsolved. In 90% of cases of journalist murders, the perpetrators were not brought to justice. In parallel, 87% of female journalists surveyed in a 2025 survey said they had been victims of online violence related to their professional work, showing that digital harassment is no longer the exception but the rule.

In conclusion, the report warns that Europe is at a turning point. Less than a third of alerts in 2025 received a government response, and only 20% of all alerts from 2015 to date have been resolved.

In the absence of firm measures to combat impunity, to protect independent public media, to effectively implement standards against abusive trials and to guarantee the safety of journalists, press freedom risks being eroded from within European democracies.