The European Union wants to help Radio Free Europe after the USa is cut off. “We are at the brainstorming stage”

Are we financially able to fill the gap that the US will leave behind? Not automatically – admitted the head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas after the meeting in Brussels, where the issue of financing Radio Free Europe (RFE) was raised. She said that “there was strong pressure from the ministers to deal with this matter and find a solution.”

On Monday, the issue of further activity and financing of Radio Free Europe/Radio Swoboda (RFE/RL) was discussed by EU foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels. The topic was brought by the Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. In turn, on Tuesday, the ministers of the Member States responsible for European affairs will deal with.

The completion of the financing existing since 1950 and other similar editorial office was announced on Saturday by the government USA.

– I asked this topic as an open question: are we interested in the continuation of the existence of a website that is so important for the neighborhood of the European Union? And I received positive answers. This is a hint that we must now look for solutions. We don't have any specifics yet, we are at the initial stage – said Lipavsky after meeting on Monday.

Since 1994, Radio Free Europe is based in Prague.

Sikorski: We are at the brainstorming stage

The Minister of Foreign Affairs also referred to the matter Radosław Sikorskiwho said that by listening to RFE and the voice of America (VOA) he learned the history of Poland and learned what was happening in the country. – Father had an old tube capital (radio receiver – ed.), And the walls in our apartment in the block were thin, so everything was heard. In this way I became an anti -communist – he recalled. He admitted that he felt “personal gratitude” towards these stations and stated that their mission should be continued.

Sikorski said that EU foreign ministers decided to think about what can be done to help Radio Free Europe survive. He added that one of the ideas could be to increase the budget of the European Democracy Fund. – Minister Lipavsky even talked about buying the station. We are at the stage of brainstorming – said the head of Polish diplomacy.

Kallas: We are not able to fill the gaps automatically

Also the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said that she learned from RFE “about what was really happening.”

“It is sad to hear that the US is withdrawing their financing,” Estonka emphasized. – The question is whether we are able to complete the gap in financial terms that the US will leave behind. The answer to this question is that not automatically. We have many organizations that come to us with the same request. However, today there was strong pressure from the ministers to deal with this matter and find a solution – she noted.

The topic of activities and financing of Radio Free Europe/Radio Swoboda is to be raised also at the Tuesday meeting of European and EU ministers in Brussels. She announced it on Monday European Commissionwhose spokeswoman Paul Pinho emphasized that “these media are served millions of people in the world as a ray of hope, truth and democracy.” “Especially during fake news and unmodified content, the freedom of the press is critically important for democracy,” said Pinho.

An important role of Radio Free Europe and the voice of America

US President Donald Trump On Friday, he signed a regulation ordering the maximum limitation of activities and staff of the Global Media Agency, responsible for media for abroad, including RFE/RL and VOA. There have already been releases on the order of Elon Musk, a collaborator of the American president.

On Saturday, broadcast of a number of publicly financed radio and television stations, including VOA and RFE, was suspended. All VOA journalists were sent for a forced vacation, and RFE was informed about the completion of financing.

Established in 1950, the media have over 2,000 employees, a budget of $ 270 million and broadcast in 49 languages ​​to an audience estimated at 361 million people a week. America's voice operated since 1942, while Radio Free Europe – from 1950.

RWE The first programs addressed to listeners in Central Europe began to broadcast in July 1950. The programs were recorded in New York on tapes, which were then sent to German. The program was broadcast from around Frankfurt. On August 4, 1950, the first radio broadcast addressed to Poland appeared – the voice of free Poland. It was broadcast an hour a day. At the beginning of 1952, the Polish section began working at the new RWE headquarters in Munich under the leadership of the new director, who was Jan Nowak-Jeziorański.

On May 3, 1952, the Polish Radio Free Europe station began under the name of free Poland by broadcasting permanent programs from Munich to the country. During the Polish People's Republic, it became one of the most important sources of objective messages for millions of Poles. Her program was broadcast several hours a day and despite the jamming, he successfully broke the communist information monopoly.