President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel

Office of the President of the Republic
Hrad I. nádvoří č. p. 1, Hradčany
119 08 Prague 1
Czech Republic

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Petr Fiala
Government Office of the Czech Republic
nábřeží Edvarda Beneše 4
118 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic

CC:
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavský
Minister of European Affairs, Martin Dvořák
Minister of Finance, Zbyněk Stanjura

September 30 2025

Re: Immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement

Dear President,
Dear Prime Minister,

We, the undersigned press freedom and journalist organizations, are writing to urge the Czech government to call for a partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in order to protect journalists in Gaza and to advance our collective ability to access independent reporting.

Israel is engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists that press freedom organizations have ever documented. Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work. Media infrastructure in Gaza is systematically destroyed, and censorship has been tightened throughout the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel. Israel has also taken the unprecedented step of refusing international media independent access to Gaza.

European public opinion on Gaza is changing, in part as a result of the reporting from Palestinian journalists on the ground. Their journalism–the stories, the personal accounts, and the images–has been a testament to the horrors suffered by the Palestinian people. It is imperative that all EU Member States continue to support Palestinian journalists as they carry out their work, while also advocating for international media–including Czech journalists–to have independent access to Gaza.

A sense of outrage is mounting in the journalist community, including the open letter sent by 262 Czech journalists, addressed to you Mr President and the Czech government, in support of journalists in Gaza.

EU Member States are increasingly in support of suspending certain trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel– which is now a formal proposal made by the European Commission.

We kindly urge the Czech government to:
– immediately and publicly express the Czech Republic’s support for the partial or full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and encourage other EU Member States to follow suit;
– strengthen the calls on Israel to immediately allow the urgent delivery of food, clean water, and medical supplies to all journalists in Gaza through protected humanitarian corridors;
– call on Israel to end the blockade on foreign press entry into Gaza;
– and robustly demand the independent investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the starvation and killing of journalists (in line with the 2015 Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists in armed conflict).

This is a defining moment for Europe to defend its international reputation to uphold human rights and we call on the Czech Republic to take action.

Undersigned:

ARTICLE 19
Association of European Journalists in Belgium
Committee to Protect Journalists
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
European Federation of Journalists
Free Press Unlimited
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International News Safety Institute (INSI)
International Press Institute
Media Diversity Institute
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT)
Ossigeno per l’infomazione, Ossigeno.info
Reporters Without Borders
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
Spanish Federation of Associations of Journalists (FAPE)
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation

This letter was produced as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors, and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and candidate countries.