PRAGUE – Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said he plans to raise the issue of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, following U.S. President Donald Trump's moves over the weekend to cut funding for several media outlets.
Lipavsky argued on Czech television on Sunday that Europe should engage in a broader political debate given what the broadcaster means for the continent, although he was unsure what steps the EU might take. In a post on X, Lipavsky wrote that he would like to explore “how to at least partially preserve” RFE/RL’s broadcasting activities.
The Czech minister's comments came after the Trump administration on Saturday placed journalists at several US-funded broadcasters, including RFE/RL and Voice of America, on leave after freezing their funding.
The White House portrayed it as part of an effort to trim the U.S. federal bureaucracy and purge “radical propaganda.” But in Prague, where RFE/RL is headquartered, the reaction was alarming. The media outlet played a major historical role in opposing communist rule in Czechoslovakia and throughout the Eastern Bloc until 1989.
Lipavsky said it was in Europe's interests to continue such broadcasts, adding that RFE/RL provides important support to democratic forces in Eastern Europe and Asia.
He also called Radio Liberty a “beacon” for those under totalitarian rule.
“From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, RFE and Voice of America are among the few free sources for people living without freedom,” he said on the X program. He also suggested that these outlets are important in countering the Kremlin narratives.
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Euractiv spoke to media representatives in Central and Eastern Europe, and they all expressed the same concern: that a sharp reduction in funding could cause long-term damage to the region's media infrastructure.
“This is a gift to America’s enemies,” warned RFE/RL President Stephen Kapus in an article published Saturday. His view was shared by the international press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, which condemned the move as a betrayal of America’s historic commitment to press freedom.
But Trump allies, including U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake, have defended the cuts, arguing that the agency is a “giant rotten slab” that wastes taxpayer money. Lake has said projected savings could reach $700 million by 2026.
Elon Musk, a key figure in the administration, welcomed the decision on his social media platform X. Musk called the US government-backed media “radical left-wing lunatics talking to themselves.”
Centre-right Czech MEP Danuše Nerudová said she also intends to raise the issue of the broadcaster's future in the European Parliament.
[BTS]
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