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2024 election year: Secretary General urges governments to protect journalists to safeguard democracy
World Press Freedom Day

In a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić said: “As millions of citizens in Europe and other continents vote in crucial elections in 2024, we must recall the critical role that journalists and quality media play in ensuring access to pluralist and reliable information and diverse opinions and ideas, so that we can make informed choices when exercising our democratic rights.

“Without diverse, free, and independent media and journalists, true democracy decays and can perish. They are a pillar of democracy, and we should never forget that their freedom is also ours. However, for media and journalists to play their essential democratic role, they need to be able to work in a safe environment.

“As the 2024 annual report of the Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists shows, media freedom continues to be under constant attack in Europe. These threats include the unlawful deployment of spyware and abusive lawsuits against journalists, physical attacks, intimidation, detention, restrictive legislation, media capture and attacks on public service media.

“To address these challenges, Council of Europe member states should implement the Committee of Ministers Recommendation on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors and develop national action plans as part of the Council of Europe Campaign “Journalists Matter”. A welcome development is that some member states have taken the first steps to roll out this initiative.

“Regarding, specifically, the growing practice of abusive lawsuits aiming to harass and silence journalists, media, and other watchdogs, member states should adopt legislative frameworks that enable everyone to participate in public debate and public affairs in safety and without fear. As a priority, they should implement the recently adopted Committee of Ministers Recommendation on the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).”

 World Press Freedom Day: Congress rapporteurs call for support to local and regional media in reporting on climate change

SECRETARY GENERAL STRASBOURG 2 MAY 2024
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The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation, with 46 member states, including Armenia. All our member states are party to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is the cornerstone of human rights protection in Europe.

The Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, represents the Secretary General in Armenia. It closely co-operates with national authorities supporting the implementation of statutory obligations to the Council of Europe by Armenia through co-operation projects.


 

Armenia and the Council of Europe – bringing human rights from the conference table to your kitchen table

The Council of Europe works for you. We want to give visibility to the role, standards and work of the Council of Europe in its member states, to show how Council of Europe membership has helped achieve particular results or changes. Our aim, through a variety of events and actions, is to highlight ways in which the Council of Europe’s action has helped improve the life of individuals and contributed to improving people’s enjoyment of fundamental rights.

 

Whether it is the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights at national level, or the Council of Europe's work in many fields, such as working to abolish the death penalty or to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of the media, or to adress online and technology-facilitated violence against women through the Istanbul Convention and Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the Council of Europe has achieved a lot since 1949. View achievements »