BIRN Reporting Democracy Project Warns Freedom is in Peril

BIRN launched its latest project, Reporting Democracy, on Friday in Budapest with a conference that heard about the rise of populism in Central and Eastern Europe, the role of the media and about activism. 

Experts agreed that democracy could not be taken for granted because populists and the far right present a serious threat to democracy across the EU, especially in vulnerable regions such as the Balkans. 

"The reasons why we see an erosion of democracy and doubt whether democracy is right for us is that we have lived a long period where there was no challenge, where we have seen linear progress, and the clouds only came with the economic and financial crisis in 2008, and with the technological revolution, where people became worried that will they be replaced," Ivan Vejvoda, Director of Europe's Futures project, said.

Vejvoda explained that the rise of far right and populist movements was fueled by the perception that mainstream political parties and media are "not dealing with real issues". 

"This is why the work that quality journalism does, which unveils the various shenanigans between those in power and those in mafia … is vital… Only by projects like this, and similar ones, can we stand up and live up to our values - freedom and liberty," Vejvoda said.

Lydia Gall, from the Human Rights Watch, said that in many countries there are sustained attacks on the judiciary, journalists and watchdog organizations. "If this is allowed, then the government controls the message," she said.

In order to battle the rise of far right, Kristof Bender, ESI's Deputy Chairman, proposed that mainstream parties need to master basic political tools - make better speeches, mobilize better, and be better at persuading citizens to follow European...