Speech by Commissioner Marta Kos delivered at the ‘Maison du MediaLab' inauguration event in Brussels

Speech at Star4 Media Day

Speech at Star4 Media Day

Thank you, Mr Leclercq, I am very happy to be here today with you, at the opening of this extraordinary initiative.

I have come a little bit earlier today because I really wanted to get to know Beka, Elena, Iulia, Tetyana, Valeriia, and Vazha in person.

Their story strikes a very personal chord with me. Before I entered public service, I was one of you. In the early 1990s, I worked as a journalist in Bonn in Germany. First for Deutsche Welle – like you Iulia – and later as a foreign correspondent for Slovenian National Radio.

It was a time of dramatic geopolitical changes. The Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet Union dissolved, Germany was reunified and the hope that the reunification of our entire continent would be the next step, was felt everywhere. That these geopolitical changes took place without a major European war, was not a given, it was a miracle – and the result of responsible statesmanship on all sides.

But of course, there was also war. The country of my youth, Yugoslavia, descended into a bloody war which left resentment and distrust, and which created new borders, while all over Europe we were busy removing them. These scars are healing only slowly. But helping them heal will be one of my priorities over the next few years.

You have also started your career in journalism during a time of enormous geopolitical upheavals. They have brought war to Ukraine, energy blackmail to Moldova, an existential threat to the democracy and European orientation of Georgia, and instability to the whole Southern Caucasus.

But today, journalism is very different. When I reported for Slovenian Radio from Bonn, I used to go to press conferences with my pen and notebook, and my pockets full of 5 Deutsche Mark coins. Why? Because afterwards I had to call the station in Ljubljana form a phone box to record my report. Journalists were still a filter and the source of limited information.

You live in a different world. One of 24-hour rolling news, an abundance of information, and of social media algorithms that prioritise the outrageous over the thoughtful.

Those who would like to see the European Union fail are using this and they invest a lot of money into disinformation campaigns to weaken the bond between the European Union and your nations.

Combatting this disinformation together, is one of our most pressing issues. As a former journalist, I know how hard it is to counter Falsehoods with facts. Lies are often simpler, more emotionally charged, and easier to spread. And lies are cheap, whereas uncovering and reporting the truth is often expensive.

Yes, European politics may seem complicated. Too often, what the EU does goes unnoticed. And yes, too often we are also not good enough at explaining it. Whether it is funding for infrastructure, support for education and healthcare, or efforts to promote peace and stability: the tangible benefits are not always visible to the people they serve.

In Moldova, the close referendum on enshrining EU accession in its constitution reflected the impact of hybrid attacks from Russia, but it also revealed our difficulties in showcasing what the EU is doing for the country.

This is where your role is indispensable. As journalists, you have the power to cut through the noise, establish the facts and translate the complexities of our Union into stories that resonate with the people in your countries.

But there is more. We also need you here because you bring new perspectives into the corridors of Brussels. Perspectives that challenge us to see ourselves and our policies through different eyes. Perspectives that remind us of the diversity of European realities.

I know you will visit my team in DG NEAR soon. But I would also like to invite you to come see me later in spring. Once you know your way around Brussels, let's sit down together for an interview.

I will also have questions for you: about your experience, about how to explain the EU better in your countries, and about how we can better support journalists from Eastern Europe.

We are of course already doing a lot. For example, as part of the enlargement process. Without media freedom, no EU membership is possible. It is part of the all-important fundamentals. This is why we are working with candidate countries to strengthen their media landscapes.

But media freedom is not enough. Media organisations also need financial sustainability. As I have said before “Lies are cheap, the truth is expensive”. Quality journalism is expensive.

This is why the Commission is supporting independent journalists in all our partner countries.

We have immediately responded to what is happening in Georgia. We have already reallocated €8.5 million from the government to civil society organisations and independent media, and we are working on reallocating another €7 million to communication activities. This is to step up our response to disinformation spread by the Georgian Dream's leadership.

Last month, we have also announced a new assistance package for the people of Belarus worth €30 million. It will help sustain independent voices, protect human rights defenders, and help culture and education in exile.

On top of that, we are also supporting journalists through the European Endowment for Democracy. Reprogramming EU funds takes time, but through the EED we can move fast. They are our fire brigade and can react very quickly when independent journalists are in need.

For example, when they set up - right after Russia's full-scale invasion – a ‘Work and Rest' residency programme for Ukrainian journalists and activists in Przemyśl on the Polish-Ukrainian border. I know many of your media have benefited from EED grants.

Despite all this support, I have no doubt that the European Commission can and should do even more.

I applaud the goal of Europe MédiaLab to triple the number of Brussels correspondents from Eastern Europe. Last year, there were 5 journalists from my native Slovenia accredited to the EU, but only 4 from Ukraine, even though Ukraine is more than 20 times bigger. There were also more journalists from Central Europe in Brussels before the enlargement of 2004 than we have from Eastern Europe today.

I would like to help you. I committed during my hearing, that I will do my very best to make sure civil society organisations and independent media will receive more EU financial support in the future. I hope that I can count on you, Vice-President Verheyen, to support this ambition in the European Parliament.

I also understand from Mr Leclercq that some media - notably from Armenia - would like to take part in your programme at the Media Lab but face financial constraints: clearly, we should reflect on this need. We are not talking about millions of euros, but about millions of citizens to be informed.

And finally, I know there are some excellent support programmes that exist for EU journalists in Brussels. I will explore with my fellow Commissioners what we can do to expand more of those to our Eastern European partners.

When three years ago, the Filipino journalist, Maria Ressa, delivered her Nobel Peace Prize lecture, she warned that:

“Without facts, you can't have truth. Without truth, you can't have trust. Without trust, we have no shared reality, no democracy, and it becomes impossible to deal with our world's existential problems.”

This is precisely why journalists play such an essential role in our democracies, and why we need more foreign correspondents like you here in Brussels.

Once again, congratulations to you Mr Leclercq for this fantastic initiative and all the best to you Beka, Elena, Iulia, Tetyana, Valeriia, and Vazha. I really look forward to our meeting in spring.