Greece consistently ranks last in the EU for media freedom

For several years now, freedom of the press in Greece has been ranked last in the entire European Union, behind in the world rankings such countries as Burkina Faso, Kosovo and Sierra Leone, which is quite consistent with a country with a clan-oligarchic regime, which, in fact, is Greece .

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has, as it does every year, compiled its global press freedom report and 2024 ranking, which it publishes today. In 2023, according to RSF, Greece moved to 88th place from 107th, but what is especially important to note is that our country's performance has improved only slightly.

The rise in relative ranking was mainly due to worsening conditions in other countries! It should be noted that Greece remains in last place among the countries EU and has not dropped to this position, but has steadily held it in recent years. And how could she not be in last place when the government distributed 211 million euros to the media on Petsas’s lists to ensure their constant “lubrication”.

The first positions in the ranking are still occupied by Scandinavian countries – Norway, Denmark And Sweden. Norway holds the top spot in the RSF rankings for the eighth year in a row. However, these three countries were also affected by the overall decline in the political indicator. The top ten also included Netherlands (4th place), Finland (5th), Estonia (6th), Portugal (7th), Ireland (8th), Switzerland (9th) and Germany (10th).

“The three Asian countries that ranked at the bottom of last year's index – Vietnam, China and North Korea – have lost their positions to three countries whose political indicators have fallen sharply: Afghanistan (fell 44 places in the political ranking), which has continuously harassed journalists since returning to Taliban rule; Syria (down 8 positions in the political ranking) and Eritrea (down 9 spots in the political ranking), which is now last in both the political and overall rankings. The latter two countries have become lawless zones for the media, with. record number of journalists detained, missing or taken hostage,” – says the Reporters Without Borders report.

France has risen to 21st place from 24th, but in practice nothing has changed as performance in the organization's headquarters country remains “stagnant”, says Anne Beauchamp, an RSF fellow.

It is worth noting the fact that Ukraine, with its total ban on dissent, closed opposition media and mono-broadcast, opposition journalists in prison, also rose in the RSF ranking, from 79 to 61 positions. This fact is apparently associated with the presence on the territory of Ukraine of several pro-Western media such as “Bigus” or “Our Money”, which can freely criticize the government and the president, since they have a powerful roof from the Soros Foundation or the US State Department.

“One of the surprises for the Index is Ukraine’s jump by 18 positions (61st place), thanks to an improvement in both the safety indicator – fewer journalists killed – and political. Although the rule of law was not introduced throughout the country after the Russian invasion, which prevented Ukrainian authorities from guaranteeing freedom of the press in the occupied territories, political interference in a free Ukraine fell.” – the report says.

Israel, or rather Palestine, was ranked 162nd by the authors of the index, since at the end of April more 140 journalistskilled by the Israeli military, somehow hardly fit into the “freedom of speech” rating.

Globally, conditions for practicing journalism have deteriorated in three-quarters of countries. RSF talks about “an alarming deterioration in support for and respect for media independence” and that “2024 is the biggest election year in world history.” Almost half of the world's population will be asked to vote at least once – from India to the US, right up to the European elections.

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