Strasbourg, France – April 1, 2025 – In a powerful address to the European Parliament plenary session, Commissioner Kos, speaking on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas, underscored the enduring importance of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and issued a clarion call to safeguard democratic media in an era of declining global freedom. The speech, delivered on April 1, 2025, in Strasbourg, celebrated the 70-year legacy of RFE/RL while urging renewed action to protect independent journalism amid rising authoritarian threats.
“For seventy years, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty have done exactly what they say on the tin,” Kos declared in his opening remarks. “They have spoken of a free Europe and the value in liberty. They have spread hope for those under the fierce grip of state-controlled media and censorship.” Reflecting on his own upbringing in communist Yugoslavia, Kos credited U.S.-funded RFE/RL broadcasts with keeping “our ears and hearts open to another life,” describing the initiative as a “crusade for freedom.”
The commissioner highlighted RFE/RL’s dual role during its seven-decade history: acting as surrogate media for censored nations and facilitating cross-reporting—informing Poles of Hungarian developments or Estonians of Kazakh events. “By these two methods, the journalists of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty have empowered listeners to make informed choices; to know that they have free will; and that their free will matters,” he said.
Yet, Kos warned that this mission is under threat as global freedom wanes. Citing a recent Freedom House report, he noted that “not even the most powerful democratic states will be able to guarantee the freedom and prosperity of their people should current trends continue.” He posed a series of rhetorical questions to the parliament: “Do you think people want their freedom less today than those who were trapped in the communist cage? Has the value of freedom declined? Does the world need fewer advocates for freedom? Of course not.”
A Personal Perspective and a Global Call
Drawing from his experience as a journalist witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kos emphasized the critical role of independent media in today’s information landscape. “With more unmediated content on social media, more threats to the information environment, journalism is more vital today than ever before,” he asserted. He stressed the importance of U.S. funding decisions for RFE/RL in 2025, warning, “If we do not [protect it], we hand a gift to autocrats the world over.”
Kos singled out the case of Alsu Kurmasheva, an RFE/RL journalist imprisoned by Russia on what he called “false accusations,” as a stark example of the risks faced by free media. “The world needs free journalists like Radio Free’s Alsu Kurmasheva,” he said, later adding in his closing remarks, “You cannot stop a writer from writing, just as you cannot imprison a lust for life or a will to tell the truth.”
Three Pillars of Action
The commissioner outlined three key strategies to bolster media freedom. First, he pointed to the European Media Freedom Act, set to take full effect in August 2025. “This is not just a piece of legislation,” Kos said. “It is our message to the world that Europe stands for free media… that in Europe, the public media is not a prop for government propaganda but a lifeline for democratic choice.”
Second, he called for a more engaged and discerning public. “A free media needs critical readers and independent thinkers,” he urged. “We must be curious and critical, always checking the information and questioning what we get… We have to be able to recognise where media is free and where it is not.”
Third, Kos addressed the growing challenge of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), describing it as “a hybrid war tactic” requiring a robust response. “We have to expose it, sanction those responsible, and build up our own arsenal to fight back,” he said, noting that journalists play a vital role in countering such threats by reporting on suppressed topics.
A Collective Responsibility
In his closing remarks, Kos praised the European Parliament as a “House of Democracy” and an “essential ally” in the fight for media freedom. “If we allow independent media to be silenced, we hand a victory to autocrats,” he warned. “We allow them to control our information space. We allow them to suppress dissent. In the European Union, where freedom prevails, we can never allow this to happen.”
He cited the recent detention of Swedish journalist Joakim Medin in Turkey as a reminder of ongoing threats, adding, “In a world where facts are increasingly contested and distorted, our investment and protection of independent, public interest journalism is more important than it has ever been—and we live in 2025.”
Quoting American journalist Walter Cronkite—“freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy”—Kos concluded with a message of resilience. He referenced Kurmasheva’s ability to find “beauty and joy in the smallest things” even in Russian detention, asserting, “That, Honourable Members, is why freedom must and will prevail.”
As the European Parliament continues to champion media freedom, Kos’s speech serves as both a tribute to RFE/RL’s legacy and a rallying cry for a renewed global commitment to the free press. With the stakes higher than ever, the EU’s actions in the coming months could prove decisive in shaping the future of democratic media.
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