On 19 and 20 June, Vice-President Věra Jourová will be in Bonn to participate in the G7 meeting of media ministers and in the Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum. Together with government, media and civil society representatives, the Vice-President will discuss joint initiatives to support media freedom and pluralism, in particular in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Vice-President Jourová welcomed this first ever G7 media ministers’ meeting organised under the German G7 Presidency:
“Democracies need to stand together to defend their values. With G7 media ministers, we will do more to support media freedom and pluralism. We are stepping up our efforts to protect journalists risking their lives under Russian bombs and to fight against Russian propaganda. These challenges require a global response.”
Vice-President Věra Jourová and G7 media ministers will have an exchange with Ukrainian Minister of Culture and Information Oleksander Tkachenko. On 20 June, Vice-President Věra Jourová will participate in Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum with speakers including Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa.
During the two days, Vice-President Věra Jourová will outline the Commission’s action to support media freedom and pluralism, with the recently adopted package to tackle Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, as well as the Commission’s Recommendation on the safety of journalists. The Commission continues to increase financial support to foster media freedom and pluralism, and will adopt the European Media Freedom Act later this year.