Radio Silence: EU Wants to Keep RFE Alive After US Cuts

The European Union is debating how to keep Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) open after the US cut funding to its own news outlet and shuttered the agency overseeing the broadcaster as well as Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), moves that won praise from China, the Associated Press reported.

On Tuesday, EU government leaders met in Brussels to discuss ways to keep the news outlet afloat, agreeing on the importance of finding resources to ensure that RFE/RL remains a voice of freedom and democracy.

The Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said the work done by Prague-based RFE/RL – which started broadcasting during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda – is crucial and insisted the EU should find a way to keep it at least partially functioning.

The Trump administration signed an executive order Friday to reduce the scope of eight federal agencies, including the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, RFA, and RFE/RL, among others, according to Bloomberg.

Nearly the entire staff of VOA – which started broadcasting in 1942 – was placed on administrative leave over the weekend. The outlet has been labeled as “propaganda poison” by Chinese state news media for its reporting on topics, such as forced labor in the Xinjiang Province and Hong Kong protests. China expressed support for Trump’s move.

Russia is not concerned by the agency’s closure, claiming that VOA and RFE/RL are neither popular nor in demand in the country, according to Reuters.

Even so, for months, RFE/RL has a message posted next to each story it publishes: “RFE/RL has been declared an ‘undesirable organization’ by the Russian government. If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.”

Staff at RFE/RL have also been put on administrative leave after the US funding freeze.

RFE/RL CEO Stephen Capus cautioned that shutting down these media outlets would be a “massive gift to America’s enemies,” referring to China, Russia, and Iran, and warned that the move would make these countries stronger and America weaker.

China, Russia, and Iran have invested heavily in state media outlets over the years to compete with so-called Western narratives and convey a set image to foreign audiences, Agence France-Presse reported.

Meanwhile, EU Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho said the EU wants to support RFE/RL but that they “cannot always step in for the US and for whatever the US stops doing.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas added that filling in the void from the US will not be easy as a lot of other organizations are turning to the EU with the same request.