within the block, that is why the european commission says it is introducing new legislation to protect free and independent journalism. the european media freedom act. let's talk about that with the era. yorba the european commission vice president charge with you values and transparency. thank you for being with us. thank you very much for your interest. madam vice president, am media freedom in the european union is a fundamental right. so how can it be that this riot is under a threat right now? how did we get there? are we saw this trend over several years? we have a good day die by year comparing the there is really a negative trend. political attacks are economic distress. spying journalists, worsening situation for the journalists when it comes to their safety, abusing justice system and journalists. so are you ask about how it is possible?

well, a lever relying a lot on a member states, a roofs and legislation, and at some omen we realized wait a minute, this is bonnie ribbon problem. and if we let the trend continue, if the media will be weakened, be on some line, we will not be able to see democracy protected sufficiently. so that's why we are coming as though, as the legally binding rule center. i believe that tar ah, we are ahead of a difficult legislative process maybe. but i am ready really to push it through because i believe we need it. so you saying that the member states are to blame for the situation? no, i would not formulate that. i, i just realized that we have a very even stand down level of protection of

media in our member states that our country is out a lot of safeguards and i can name germany. that's why i had to get a lot of promises to different german figures and, and politicians, and also the media organizations that we are not going to destroy the systems which work well. but i also try to convince everybody that there are gaps that out there is this trend why we see that resolve the legally binding rules? the media will be the victims of the funding situation. just look at the platforms and the power see the money which went to the big platforms which weakened the media. economically. look at some states which try to use the political power to influence the editorial content. look at the using the spyware. again, the journalists, you named at the beginning,

the problems we face in the commission says that the media freedom act with hands, media, independence, and transparency. how is it going to do it? exactly. we are focusing on several big thinks of on the basis of the problem identified. so 1st of all, we are warning the member state of the political layer. do not interfere. let the journalist do the job. ah, don't use the spyware. don't push them to disclose dark sources of information. are at the same time where we are alerting. ah, when it comes to public service media, we believe that the right of bieber to half object if information and neutral kind of noose ah, that we need to see in all the member states high profile,

a professional, public service media, not state media or barty, media we see a lot of far ah, public money by being ah, sent to media through advertising. and we want to see how much and to which media. in other words, we want to see more transparency in how the public money is used. whether you just buy the space or whether you or so buy some editorial gratitute and are we don't see a lot of far information regarding a transparency of ownership of media. in a recent interview you said that hungry, often criticized for it's handling all for media, was an inspiration for at the bill. what exactly did you mean by that? well, of course we had to, ah, we had in mind several concrete cases. when i was asked very done, sibley,

what will the commission do in this house? i was grilled so many times and i had to a repeat while we do not have any tool in hand. and he cannot act of and we see something wrong happening in hungary or it it ball land or we had an issue in slovenia. ah, we see some negative trend in many other member states and are, you know, like you a reply and 9 times i cannot do any thing. and the don't dance thyme you are willing to re fit it any more. so the solution is the european law. i will honestly try to convince everybody that this is a good thing. we will have may be difficult, legislative process. papa, everybody has to admit that the media are not protected enough in europe. are talking about hungary. well, this legislation has immediate effect on hungary,

for instance, on media owned by oligarchs, close to the government. of course it's going to be used. it's are actively, sorry, i'm a lawyer, so i have to mention that. but this law sets the criteria for which will be used for the assessment of concentration of media ownership. and i believe that all the monopoly i guess, ma, which we see in hungary functioning all of would not be possible would not have been possible with such laws. and critics and hungry already saying that this proposed legislation is a concealed threat to freedom of speech though is the commission protecting their freedom of media by restricting freedom of speech by restricting opinions that the commission doesn't like. this is a fatal misunderstanding. i don't know if i made a mistake in communication about vice versa. we won't buy this law

to increase the protection of the freedom of speech. that's why i also mentioned the platforms that that should be special treatment for the professional journalists to be able to place that opinions and then use in digital space. and all i have to repeat that we are not a relating media themselves, regulating the space for the media, the europe and parliament this weeks at that hungry is a systemic threat to you values as a commissioner in charge of those values. do you believe that governments, like the one in budapest should have a space in the european union? ah, you can imagine the commission shares a lot of times shot in the resolution, which was already in the previous one. we see issues in judiciary system. we discussed the media drinking space or the civil society. there are thousands of

little or bigger things which goals some kind of erosion of, of the hungary and democracy. and so this is snow the choice for, for hungary to prove that they belong to the club of europe and take countries while it's my job to have a dialog on gary or to use the tools which i haven't the commission to try to convince them through different measures to come back and in the past, victor alba and hunger and prime minister already verbally attacked you and demanded you resignation. so are you not afraid of a backlash in hungry and in other countries? for instance, poland because of this legislation. when you enter politics, you cannot take things personally. i had several other enemies. i

realize that that is something on the slogan. it's my slogan. tell me who your enemies are and i will tell you who you are. and i was not happy that mister mon was taking me, but i was happy that love on the lion protected me, that she, she was supporting me. and i think that in general, it is not a good scene that in politics, we do not speak about opponent, mores speak about adversaries or enemies. a thing that should come back to some kind of dissent, politics, why we lack this the arguments rather than this offensive. but how does it feel to have an euro p and european leader us your enemy? ah, that it sounds cynical if i say i got used to it and i also have a lot of friends and you grow up in the coming is to

regime in the jo slovakia before that i one will went down. so how has this experience impacted you personal view of journalists and media? it's uneasy to come back the time the photo of illusion and after, because we cannot speak on it. about any media in communist trickles, lamarche or either of us, some newspaper. there was tv, but my father always was telling me where chicago do not believe any thing. what you read in newspaper. it was very important part of my education and equipment for the rest of my life. today my message would be please, people do not believe every thing you read. and here comes my fight against this

information and faking us. and now we have regimes like the one in russia and the commission is saying, you want to restrict foreign propaganda and this information, but isn't this motion coming to late? you know, we, we haven't dna any or all, but we're really protect the seat of speech. and the media doing the job must be protected. but then we came to the point when we saw that russia to dance put, nick, became just the water weapon, not the media anymore. so if it came late, i think it came in the proper moment. together with enhancing the support of the journalist in ukraine, and we are sending a lot of money to help you. oh so, so they are heroes working that in the battlefield. met and vice president. thank

you very much. thank you very much. ah. with

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