Greece ranks low in Europe for media freedom for 2nd consecutive year

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - Greece received the lowest score in the EU for media press freedom for the second year in a row, Human Right Watch (HRW) said on Friday, citing an international media watchdog finding.

HRW stated in the report titled Greece Stuck at Bottom of EU on Press Freedom that the country has faced several setbacks, including wiretapping scandals and the murder of journalist Giorgos Karaivaz in 2021.

The Greek government has denied the report, claiming that it is unreliable.

Despite the government’s denial of its media press freedom rankings, the rights organization cites the findings of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as saying “concerns about curbs on media freedom and an increasingly hostile environment for civil society in Greece are not new. They have been piling up for some time, raising the alarm about the rule of law in the country.”

The RSF, however, welcomed the government's arrest of two suspects in Karaivaz's murder on April 28 but demanded that all those who are responsible be apprehended.

Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, after visiting Greece in June 2022 came to the same conclusions about press freedom, according to the rights group.

“Inconvenient or unflattering – news and reports – for the government, including reporting on serious human rights violations, do not get sufficient coverage on many media outlets,” HRW quoted Lawlor as saying after her visit.

Journalists have faced “criminal lawsuits and strategic lawsuits against public participation for their investigative reporting on corruption and environmental pollution,” she added.

HRW urges candidates of the upcoming May 21 elections to pledge to restore the country’s media freedom if elected, noting that “free media and a vibrant civil society are the cornerstones of a functioning democratic country.”