STRASBOURG (FRANCE) (ITALPRESS) – In 2022, since Russia started its war of aggression against Ukraine, at least 12 journalists and media workers were killed and 21 injured while executing their profession. According to the 2023 annual report of the partner organizations of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, the war has started in a context of continuous deterioration of media freedom in Europe, with a significant increase in the number of detained journalists.
Published under the title “The War in Europe and the Struggle for the right to inform”, the report examines the main threats to media freedom in Europe and also makes recommendations for the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the member states on the actions needed to improve the situation. During 2022, the platform has published 289 warnings to report serious threats or attacks on media freedom in 37 states, where journalists have been killed, arrested, attacked, persecuted legally, and subject to defamation campaigns. This information includes notices related to Russia, as the partner organizations have decided to continue monitoring the situation of media freedom and attacks against of journalists after Russiàs expulsion from the Council of Europe in March 2022.
“Over the last few years, we have seen an alarming increase in attacks and threats against journalists. Many journalists have boldly exercised the right to inform in context of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and some paid for it with their own life,” said the General Secretary of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric adding that “the fact that many of the attacks go unpunished threatens the very foundations of our society. I call on Member States to address seriously this issue and to fully respect and protect the rights of journalists, to ensure their safety, to protect their sources, and to prevent censorship and other forms of interference in their job”.
The Platform’s report examines in detail the crackdown on independent journalism in Russia and the occupied territories in Ukraine and devotes a specific chapter to Belarus. In addition to the journalists who died during the war, the Platform recorded a journalist who was killed while executing his profession; Gungor Arslan in Turkey, when compared to the four registered in 2021. It was also noticed fewer cases of threats and attacks during street demonstrations, given the decrease in demonstrations during the Covid-19 period.
The partner organizations conclude that in Europe, detentions and arbitrary arrests of journalists are the order of the day. As of the end of December of last year,127 journalists and media operators were detained, 95 of whom were on the Platform’s list (a 60% increase compared to 31 December 2021), as well as 32 journalists and media workers in Belarus for which there were no alerts.
During 2022, the Platform recorded 74 notices concerning attacks on the physical integrity of journalists (26%), 41 notices on detention and imprisonment of journalists (14%), 94 notices on persecution cases and intimidation of journalists (32%), and another 80 notices on other acts which have dissuasive effects on media freedom (28%).
Other issues examined in the report are the introduction of legislation limiting the work of journalists, surveillance of journalists’ communications, fake news, and disinformation, the abuse of the judicial system to punish or intimidate reporters, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP), the pressures on the public service media and other cases of media that are directly or indirectly controlled by the government or by politicians. The report shows the persistent lack of progress regarding the resolution concerning 35 cases of impunity for attacks against journalists, including 26 murder cases that are still pending on the Platform.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

KIEV (UKRAINE) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Ukrainian military forces have destroyed two Russian military bases in Melitopol. According to the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov (photo), hundreds of Russian soldiers were killed in the operation. Ukrainska Pravda reported that in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian army killed 18 members of the sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Russian Armed Forces, who were on motorized boats near Kherson.
Meanwhile, in Russia the controversy against the Russian government which involves the Wagner militia continued to escalate. In a Telegram, the commander of the paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied that on March 8 the militia will be present at the celebrations scheduled in San Petersburg. “I have no political ambitions, our job is to fight and protect the interests of the Russian Federation”, has emphasized Prigozhin.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

TUNIS (TUNISIA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – A crackdown against illegal migrants is undergoing in Tunisia, however, rights groups confirmed that many migrants had been attacked and hundreds were detained by the authorities.
Last month, the Tunisian President appealed to the security forces to expel all illegal migrants. As a result, the police arrested hundreds of migrants, landlords immediately evicted hundreds of others from their homes, others were fired from their work and many migrants were victims of attacks by gangs of youths in various Tunisian neighbourhoods.
However, it was only yesterday that President Kais Saied indicated possible legal consequences for those who are carrying out illegal acts and harming the migrants. He described his crackdown on illegal migration as a campaign against human trafficking and referred to a law passed in 2018 against discrimination that says any verbal or physical attacks on foreigners would be prosecuted.
Yesterday’s statement came following a condemnation by the African Union accusing the Tunisian President of “racist speech” when he declared migration a conspiracy to change Tunisiàs demographics by making it more African and less Arab.
President Saied described the accusations as a campaign against the country “from known sources”, without elaborating. He added that Tunisia was honoured to be an African country and announced a relaxation of visa rules for African citizens, allowing stays of up to six months instead of three without seeking residency, and of a year for students. He added that migrants who had overstayed in Tunisia could leave without penalty after many of those in authority sought to deport the illegal migrants had proven unable to pay fines for late stays.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese government is planning a new airline as an alternative to the national airline Air Malta to secure Maltàs connectivity with the rest of Europe.
According to reports in the local media, the Labour administration is not hopeful that the current discussions with the EU Commission will lead to an agreement that guarantees more financial aid from the Maltese State.
Air Malta is facing great economic difficulty to continue with its operations, and therefore, the Maltese government has already decided to establish another new airline that will operate strictly on commercial bases without any subsidies from the government.
Such radical change will have an impact on certain routes since they are commercially not viable, and also on the working conditions of all employees, including the pilots. The conditions are expected to be similar to those airlines that are competing in the aviation market.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Opposition in Malta rallied thousands of protestors in Valletta on Sunday late afternoon, the second protest in a week, following a historical court judgment that concluded as “fraudulent” the privatisation process of three state hospitals by the Labour administration.
Following a protest march that started in front of the Office of the Prime Minister, Nationalist party leader Bernard Grech invited the protesters, many of them holding the national flag and anti-corruption messages, to continue their fight against the culture of corruption and impunity that the Labour government is leading with.
The Nationalist Party leader said that the Opposition will remain vigilant and will not stop here. “We will not give in to this blatant abuse, now confirmed by the highest Court of the country.” He appealed for every person to continue to make their voice heard to send a clear message to the Prime Minister to understand that he can no longer do whatever he wants, while he appealed to Robert Abela to open a case against Vitals Global Healthcare and bring back the millions which were stolen from the taxpayers’ money. “Open the case as soon as possible. Until you do this, we will continue our protests in the streets and be a voice for the people because we want a better Malta.”
The main message of the protest was ‘Int Jixraqlek A?jar’ (You Deserve Better) and was led by the Opposition leader. The protest was supported by one of the leading trade unions, however, two unions representing the medical professionals were unable to attend because their statute prohibited them from participating in protests organised by political parties. Though, both unions criticized the hospitals’ concession deal and welcomed the court judgment when last week met the Opposition party leader.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain are requesting to all EU member states for a “permanent and mandatory solidarity” to address the migration issue and to share the burden in order to relieve the pressure from the frontline EU member states within the Mediterranean region.
The Home Affairs Ministers of the MED5 EU states met in Valletta on Saturday, and in a joint statement declared that the effective solidarity can be achieved thorugh intra-EU relocations and direct financial contributions. The MED5 states declared that the outcome of the Pact negotiations should reflect a fair balance between “solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility.” The summit was presided by the Maltese Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri and attended by the Italian Home Affairs Minister Matteo Piantedosi, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mirarchi, Spanish Migration Minister Fernando Grande Marklaska and Cypriot Permanent Secretary Costas Constantinou. Attending the MED5 summit was also the Swedish Home Affairs Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. Sweden is currently presiding over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. While agreeing on the importance of the repatriation of migrants, she described the migrants situation as “complex” while referring to the recent tragedy of migrants off the Calabrian coast. The summit also included the participation of the director of EU border Agency Frontex.
The MED5 top officials agreed that during the last two years there was an increase in irregular migration, and the joint declaration appealed for concrete actions in order to prevent the trafficking of irregular migrants and avoid the loss of life at sea and the abuse of migrants by smugglers.
The joint statement suggests that the preventive measures can include a partnership with countries of origin and transit, better coordination and cooperation with third countries, addressing the causes leading to migration, allocating the necessary funds to North African countries to support the fight against irregular migration and to reinforce European border protection and to identify more safe and legal routes to reduce irregular migration.
The joint statement also asks for more continuous support from Frontex with regard to both land and air surveillance and offering member states intelligence to fight migrant smuggling.
The declaration calls for a fair migration policy which can be achieved through repatriating asylum seekers who do not qualify for asylum.

– foto Department of Information Malta –
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

KIEV (UKRAINE) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The President of Latvia Egils Levits today met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.
The two leaders signed a joint statement that
ratifies Latviàs support “for full European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine,” Zelensky explained.
“It is only with Ukraine in its entirety that the
European project will become truly complete – he added, and only with Ukraine in its entirety that NATO will become a real strong defender of European nations and of all
our common values. I am grateful to the President of Latvia and to the entire Latvian people for the unwavering support for our
people and for Ukraine towards this course of
integration with the European Union and NATO”.

– photo Agenziafotogramma.it –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – By the end of 2022, 14 projects done with European Union funds in Malta were being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the European Union for allegations of fraud, corruption or money laundering.
The annual report of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office shows that Malta has the largest amount of fraud investigations among the member countries of the European Union, compared to the size of the population.
The projects that are under scrutiny have a value of 123.5 million, among which three projects are being investigated for alleged fraud related to the payment of VAT, and which between them amount to 70.5 million.
Among the other cases that are under investigation there are four regarding alleged corruption, two regarding fraud in the process of awarding the contracts (procurement) and another investigation regarding alleged money laundering.
The annual report also indicates that three investigations are about projects related to the agricultural sector and rural development, one about the maritime sector and programs related to fishing, as well as another related to mobility, transport, energy and digitization.
Among the projects being investigated is the €40 million contract linked to the Marsa Junction project, after details that became known when Yorgen Fenech’s mobile phone was confiscated.
The 14 investigations led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office mean a big leap in just one year, as in the previous year there was no open investigation against Malta.
-photo agenziafotogramma.it-
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – At the end of this week, Malta will host the Home Affairs and Immigration Ministers of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain to discuss a common position between them on immigration. The European Council of the Interior Ministers is just days away, and the five Mediterranean countries will be working to present themselves with a common position during the Council meeting. For the MED5 meeting, the Swedish Minister of Migration was also invited on behalf of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union together with the new Executive Director of the Frontex Agency.
Maltese Minister of the Interior, Security, Reform and Equality Byron Camilleri said “this is a golden opportunity for Malta to continue to be a leader in this field and to reach an agreement so that all MED5 countries have the same position at the Council of Ministers in the coming days. Malta, together with the Mediterranean countries, will continue to push for a policy that fights human traffickers and consequently reduces deaths at sea, and for a fairer policy that guarantees protection to those who really deserve it, while people who do not deserve to remain in the Union will be returned to their country.”

– foto Department of Information Malta –
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews

ATHENS (GREECE) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Several protests are taking place in Greece due to the train crash in which 43 people died and 72 were injured. Local media reported that more than 10 people are still missing as Greece observes three days of national mourning.
The families provided DNA samples to help in the identification efforts, with the results expected on Thursday. Rescuers are still going through burnt and deformed carriages, looking for the victims.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s reaction that “tragic human error” was to blame for the incident caused great anger. Many see it as a long overdue incident.
The protests took place in front of the headquarters of the company responsible for the maintenance of the Greek railways, Hellenic Train. Other protests were also held in Thessaloniki and in the city of Larissa, near where the disaster occurred on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, demonstrators clashed with police outside the headquarters of Hellenic Train in Athens.
The Greek government has said that an independent investigation is underway to bring justice. Meanwhile, the Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned. He resigned after visiting the scene of the tragedy stating that he cannot continue as if nothing had happened.
Most of the 350 passengers on board were 20-year-old students returning to Thessaloniki after a weekend celebrating Greek Orthodox Lent.
A station chief from Larissa, 59, was charged with manslaughter. He denied these allegations and blamed it on a technical failure.
Members of the railway unions believed that the railways’ safety systems were not working properly and said that there had been repeated warnings about this situation for many years.
Meanwhile, railway workers across Greece have begun a one-day strike that has blocked national rail services and the Athens Metro.

– photo Freepik –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews