President David Sassoli message to Ossigeno

This message was sent to the president of Ossigeno, Alberto Spampinato on the occasion of the colloquium held in Bruxelles on November 6, 2019

Dear Alberto

Journalists, even today,  are the object of intimidation and threats that jeopardize their lives and their work.

It is wrong to think that these issues concern us only marginally, because threatening a journalist means threatening the freedom of all of us.

Against intolerance and powerful organised crime there is also a need for greater transparency, more condemnation and many initiatives such as this meeting on press freedom and the protection of threatened journalists organized by Oxygen for Information.

It is necessary to take more vigorous actions that are capable of coordinating the work of institutions, NGOs and trade unions to create new spaces for debate and discussion that address the problem more directly. We need a concrete perspective and to adopt a global approach that works across several fronts. For this reason the European Parliament will be at the forefront, undertaking support actions and not just mere condemnations; because the right to be informed is everyone’s right.

David Sassoli – President of the European Parliament