While European countries still pack the first ranks in press freedom indexes, red lights are flashing, according to a report, with a 41 percent increase in alerts from 35 nations – submitted to the Council of Europe’s Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists.

There were 282 alerts in 2021 as compared to 200 in 2020, according to the 2022 annual report issued by the Platform’s partner organisations and the International Press Institute.

The report takes cognisance of various issues, including attacks on journalists, impunity, detentions and arrests, harassment, restrictions on reporting, among others.

The report said that there were 82 alerts last year about “attacks on physical safety and integrity of journalists” – a 60 percent increase. It goes on to say that 2021 saw the highest number of journalist killings in Europe since 2015. It states that three killings were reported from Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey; one from Georgia and two from Azerbaijan. “In 2021, the Platform recorded three times more murders of journalists than were reported in 2020 and 2019,” the report said.

“Public events such as rallies and protests, in particular demonstrations against measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, were the backdrop for most of the recorded assaults on journalists,” the report added.

The report says that 35 cases of impunity were reported to the platform between 2015 and 2021. It also pointed out that 56 journalists in the region were imprisoned in 2021, of which 34 were from Turkey.

Meanwhile, more than half of people in four former communist central European countries fear media freedom is in danger, with significant majorities wanting government or EU measures to protect it, according to a recent survey, said a Guardian report. The findings, from respondents in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, are revealed in what is purportedly the biggest opinion study on the issue conducted in the “Visegrád countries”. They will form part of the consultation process for a press freedom bill under preparation by the European Commission. Seventy-one percent throughout the four countries backed government safeguarding legislation while 59 percent supported granting the EU more powers to protect media liberties.