On December 4, the MFC co-chairs Germany and Finland co-hosted a high-level event with the OSCE at the OSCE Ministerial Council. The event, “No Security Without Media Freedom,” highlighted that strengthening media freedom is both a human rights obligation and a strategic requirement for comprehensive security.
The session was opened by H.E. Elina Valtonen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland, MFC co-chair and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Speaking about Finland’s media freedom priorities, Valtonen stated, “There is no security without media freedom and safety of journalists.”
“Fifty years ago, the Helsinki Final Act redefined the meaning of security — not merely as the absence of conflict, but as the presence of human rights and fundamental freedoms…It means that media freedom is an integral element of democracy, human rights, global security, and prosperity.” Valtonen added.
“Whether working under pressure, in exile, or imprisoned: we stand with you and we support you.”
Continuing with the opening remarks, H.E. Ambassador Jan Braathu, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media remarked that “if we lose media freedom, we lose the integrity of the information environments on which all other fundamental rights and freedoms depend.”
“Media freedom is the frontline of democracy and security in the 21st century, and we must all remain committed and strive even more to see that media freedom commitments are implemented.”
The panel was then kicked off by the moderator Stefan Lenglinger, journalist from the Austrian public broadcaster, ORF.
During the panel discussion, Oleksiy Sorokin, the Deputy Chief Editor of the Kyiv Independent described the reality of covering the Russian war against Ukraine and highlighted the cases of Russian forces deliberately attacking vehicles clearly marked as “PRESS” in Ukraine.
“This is a direct attack on journalists, for the sake of journalists not reporting,” he said.
Marina Nord, a Postdoctoral Researcher from the V-Dem institute from the University of Gothenburg contributed to the discussion by sharing some sobering statistics. She highlighted that:
- Over 72% of the global population now live under autocratic regimes.
- Approximately 5.6 billion people live in countries where media freedom is severely restricted.
- Only about 300 million people live in countries with robust media freedom.
“Half of all liberal democracies now register rising political polarisation,” she noted.
Finally, Scott Griffin, the Executive Director of International Press Institute highlighted the need to fund independent media and underlined that cuts to international media support have serious consequences for independent outlets operating in fragile or authoritarian contexts.
“If we believe that independent media is a crucial pillar of security… [cuts to media support] are going to have a negative impact on not only the stability of the countries in question, the freedom of the individuals that live there, but also a negative impact on global security,” he said. “We are losing insight into processes that we would have had before through independent media.”
In her closing remarks, Germany’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE, H.E. Susanne Schütz, stressed that “Media freedom is not a peripheral concern, it is a prerequisite for collective security in an age of contested information.”
