Strasbourg

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

freedom of press and media (T)

seminar

Daphne Caruana Galizia prize for journalism (T)

Seminar of the Press freedom: extracts and ambiance shots of the seminar, extracts from the closing statement by Roberta METSOLA, EP President

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pina PICIERNO (S&amp;D, IT), Vice-President of the EP, Never before has having free and strong journalism been a necessity of our democratic system. On the contrary, it is in itself a democratic system.

SOUNDBITE (English), Matthew CARUANA GALIZIA, Son of Daphne CARUANA GALIZIA, So what Malta has achieved is really, really the absolute bare minimum. And we have not come to the to the trial of those involve the higher level in the murder itself. So they are still in custody awaiting trial. But even beyond that,. We still have yet to see a prosecution for the corruption that my mother was investigating, for the corruption that led directly to her assassination.

SOUNDBITE (English), Maria RESSA, Nobel Peace Prize, Her sons, Matthew and Paul, have said that the kind of dehumanisation that happened to her online is set the stage for the kind of violence that killed her, the car bomb that killed her. And we see those same patterns. It's it's happening to us in the Philippines. It's happening to other women around the world.

SOUNDBITE (Russian), Dimitry MURATOV, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Novaya Gazeta, Please discuss the idea of creating a global fund to support the press in exile. He may be named after Anna Politkovskaya.

SOUNDBITE (Russian), Kirill MARTYNOV, Editor-in-Chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, I think that it is very clear from our perspective, from the perspective of Russian independent journalists, and it is clear that what we are facing now is the biggest crisis in at least 10 years independent media in Europe. We know that freedom of speech is a rare opportunity, that there are many regions of the world where it does not exist and did not exist historically, where it has yet to be built.

SOUNDBITE (English), Angelina KARIAKINA, Head of News, Public Service Broadcaster Ukraine, This thought that Russia is, you know, becoming a part of this temporary occupied territory, the so-called DPR LPR, and taking in its its practises, so to say, I really have to say that I disagree. I really believe it is. It is what Russia is doing, it is the Russian orders that are brought to this temporary occupied territories, such as the persecution of the freedom of speech.

SOUNDBITE (English), Szabolcs DULL, Editor-in-Chief of Telex, HU, A kind of press freedom exists in Hungary, but real public media doesn't exit.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Maurizio MOLINARI, Editor-in-Chief La Repubblica, Thanks to new technologies, to create electronic platforms on which these young people or young and old, these inhabitants of these autocracies, can communicate and where they can send this information in any way.These platforms can multiply them in the direction of the populations of these battered states. I think it would be something absolutely terrific.

SOUNDBITE (English), V&#283;ra JOUROV&#193;, And I didn't speak of tens of thousands of journalists who are everyday under digital threats. This is the reality. When you combine it with the data, which show that the politicisation and economic pressure on media is increasing almost everywhere in Europe. We have a very dark picture. And very strong call for action.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, In her last recorded interview, Daphne talked about the harassment and abuse that she faced on a daily basis. It doesn't affect my work, she said, but it is definitely affecting other people. They see what's happening to me and they might not want to deal with that, she later added. that in the that journalists self censor that people are afraid of consequences is becoming very, very difficult. She was right, of course, in that the threats faced by journalists are very real.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, This house stands tall and steadfast together in defence of media and press freedom. And I know that with colleagues, with people across the institutions, with Vice-President Europa, with Vice-President Birchenough, this is a fight that we can and we will win. Thank you.