Europe

All the world’s regions ignored by our street names

04/01/2024 -  Lorenzo Ferrari

Analysing street names in major European cities, it turns out that people of African and Asian descent are strongly underrepresented. Barely 0.1% of streets commemorate non-white personalities born outside Europe

The EU solidarity fund

20/12/2023 -  Ornaldo Gjergji

Over the last 20 years, the EU has distributed more than 8 billion Euros to help member states and candidates deal with the consequences of natural or health disasters. How does the fund work? Which countries have benefited the most?

Hungary: Draft Sovereignty Protection Act poses fresh threat to independent media

04/12/2023

OBCT joins MFRR partners in drawing the attention of the European Union about the chilling impact of the new Hungarian bill on independent media

Turkey: International groups condemn arrest of journalist Tolga Şardan

03/11/2023

International organisations defending media freedom, freedom of expression and human rights, including the MFRR consortium, and journalists' organizations strongly condemn the arrest of journalist Tolga Şardan in Ankara

Reporting surveillance: the experience of Omer Benjakob

16/10/2023 -  Dimitri Bettoni

Investigative tech reporter Omer Benjakob, member of the desk behind the publication of the cybersecurity focused newsletter NatSec+ for the newspaper Haaretz, speaks to OBCT/MFRR about the challenges of covering the surveillance tech industry in Israel, one of the countries that has developed this industry the most

EU funds: cooperating across borders for better roads, services, prevention

29/09/2023 -  Lorenzo Ferrari

In recent years the EU has supported over 1500 different cross-border and regional development projects ("Interreg") in south-eastern Europe, implemented under cohesion policy. Where were these investments concentrated? An overview

European funds: who are the 600,000 beneficiaries and where are they located?

28/09/2023 -  Ornaldo Gjergji

1.8 million projects carried out by over 600,000 entities thanks to the EU cohesion policy. Who managed this myriad of initiatives, and on which areas and subjects were resources concentrated? A look at the data from the Kohesio platform

The International Press Institute (IPI) battling targeted cyberattacks

18/09/2023

According to the Institute, the attacks appears to be in retaliation for the work in favour of independent media outlets in Hungary, which were also targeted

Surveillance: after Pegasus and Predator, the EU is (slowly) taking action

18/09/2023 -  Paola Rosà

While the European Parliament's Commission enquires on the various states where surveillance technologies have been commercialised despite the bans, the emphasis remains on civil society and digital security. Interview with Lorenzo Bagnoli of IrpiMedia

Journalists and spyware surveillance: an open letter to the European Parliament

15/09/2023

The world of journalism is mobilizing and launching yet another heartfelt appeal to the European Parliament to introduce, in the proposed European Media Freedom Law (EMFA) under discussion, a total ban on the use of spying software against journalists