Radio Free Europe faces uncertainty after the US decision to limit funding. The EU is considering whether it will take over a part of the costs of $ 120 million a year.
Some countries of the former Soviet bloc, according to the Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský on Monday’s Council for Foreign Affairs in Brussels, clearly spoke that the issue of the future of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Freedom (RFE/RL) should be addressed. Lipavský presented this topic for negotiations after the decision of US President Donald Trump has shown that the United States will no longer finance the station, TASR reports.
“Inadequally, there were voices from the former Soviet bloc that we should address the question, so we can now pay attention to it in some wider frame and see where we will move. It is definitely not that it would be a specific conclusion … But the political will of some Member States was quite clear there, “Lipavský said after the meeting.
Whether the EU will be involved in the financing of the station or what the next procedure will be depends on the minister on further discussions. “We will also see how the situation in the United States will develop. Now that I feel some interest in other partners, I think it is responsible from us to actually deal with the question, “he added.
On Monday before the negotiations, he said that the station budget is approximately $ 120 million (about € 110 million) annually, which is a “achievable amount” for Europe. For the Czech Republic, where the radio is based, it is beyond the limit. Last week, Trump ordered several agencies, including the United States agency for global media (USAGM), which finances the station to reduce its activities to a legal minimum. The restriction is justified by the reduction of the federal clerical apparatus.
