After abruptly halting funding of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the US government’s leadership plans to intervene.
After a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s foreign policy head, announced to the media that $5. 5 million ($6.2 million) will be provided to “support the vital work of Radio Free Europe.”
She continued, “It’s short-term emergency funding that’s intended to provide a safety net for independent journalism.”
In order to reduce government spending, Trump suspended funding for RFE/RL in March along with other US broadcasters, including Voice of America.
The administration’s criticisms included claims that the cuts are politically motivated and were a result of a desire to control and restrict the news media’s biases.
Trump accused two US public broadcasters, PBS and NPR of biased reporting and spreading “left-wing” propaganda by signing an executive order earlier this month.
A US federal judge granted a request to the Trump administration last month to restore $ 12 million that was authorized by Congress, according to lawyers for RFE/RL, which has been in operation for 75 years.
Due to lawyers’ claims that the service will shut down in June without the funding, the money has not been sent so far.
Kallas stated on Tuesday that the EU’s funding would not support the outlet’s global activities, but instead would concentrate on issues that are more in line with the bloc’s interests.
“So our focus should be really on assisting Radio Free Europe to operate and operate in those nations that are close by and heavily reliant on news from outside,” she said.
The EU’s top diplomat expressed hope that Radio Free Europe would receive more funding in the form of longer-term aid from the 27 member states. Kallas stated that the bloc has been looking for “strategic areas” where it can assist in light of Washington’s cut-off of life-saving foreign aid.
Both the outlet’s corporate and journalistic sediul are in the Czech Republic and Washington, DC. With more than 1,700 employees, the service has broadcast programs in 27 different languages in 23 countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Russia has harshly criticized and outlawed the outlet because of its coverage of Ukraine’s war.
Source: Aljazeera
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