The European Union will make 5.5 million euros available to the non-governmental organisation European Endowment for Democracy (EED) to support Prague-based Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas told journalists yesterday.
The Czech Republic has actively sought to support the funding of the radio station, which has been struggling financially since President Donald Trump’s administration withdrew funding previously allocated to it by the US Congress.
Kallas said after yesterday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels that independent media are needed more than ever, which was why she was pleased to announce 5.5 million euros in short-term emergency funding for the European Endowment for Democracy to support the work of Radio Free Europe.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky praised the EU’s decision.
Lipavsky also spoke about the support for RFE/RL ahead of yesterday’s meeting in Brussels, and raised the issue during a discussion with his counterparts in the afternoon. “The situation is such that Radio Free Europe is looking for some way to continue its functioning,” Lipavsky said. He said it was important for European countries to talk about preserving the station’s mission.
“If we have a media institution that is listened to by 10% of Russians, Belarusians and Iranians, it makes sense for us, for our own security, for our strategic communication,” the Czech minister said. In his address to the ministers, he also proposed a possible solution to fund the radio station through the EED, which was created in 2013 by the European Union and its member states.
The Trump administration decided in mid-March to reduce funding from the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for RFE/RL and other stations to the legal minimum. The White House accused the radio stations’ editors of spreading anti-American and partisan propaganda. In addition to RFE/RL, which broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, funding was also cut for Radio Free Asia, which focuses on broadcasts to China and North Korea, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. RFE/RL chief Stephen Capus called Trump’s move “a huge gift to America’s enemies.”
The U.S. president signed the relevant decree in early May, depriving RFE/RL of $12 million for its April operations. An appeals court in Washington ruled last Wednesday that USAGM can release the funding after all.
