The 2025 annual thematic conference of the Council of Europe ‘Journalists Matter’ Campaign for the Safety of Journalists brought together in Luxembourg on 29 April some 150 journalists, prosecutors, judges, media regulators, civil society and state authorities to examine the challenges in prosecuting crimes against journalists and to explore new ways to prevent impunity of these crimes.

During the conference, held under the theme “Building the paradigm against impunity of crimes against journalists”, the Minister of Justice and Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister for Media and Connectivity of Luxembourg, Elisabeth Margue, announced the adoption by the government of Luxembourg of a national action plan for the safety of journalists for the period 2025-2028.

So far, 11 Council of Europe member States have a national action plan or equivalent strategic document to enhance the protection of journalists and other media workers, one of the main objectives of the ‘Journalists Matter’ Campaign: Croatia, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Lithuania and Portugal while the Netherlands is carrying out a project and have several texts with equivalent objectives.

Opening the conference, Minister Elisabeth Margue, said: “Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are a fundamental pillar of any democracy. They enable citizens to be informed, to participate actively in public life, and to hold the powers accountable for their actions. By building a paradigm against impunity, we protect not only journalists but also freedom of expression and democracy itself.”

Matjaž Gruden, director for Democracy of the Council of Europe, underlined that the impunity of crimes against journalists “is not merely a failure of justice. It is a failure of democracy. Every unpunished attack sends the message that truth can be silenced, that those who expose abuse or corruption can be targeted, pressured, attacked, even killed, without consequence for the perpetrators. Let us identify what works and scale it and look into possible solutions on what doesn´t to fix it.”

The conference, held under the auspices of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, focused on the prosecution pillar of the 2016 Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors.

The conference was followed on 30 April by the third annual meeting of the national focal points of the ‘Journalists Matter’ Campaign.