The European Union's General Affairs Council is expected to discuss the possibility of supporting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák announced.
During the previous day's meeting of EU foreign ministers, the Czech Foreign Minister raised the issue of assisting the media organization. He initiated a draft statement addressing the EU’s potential support for RFE/RL, according to reports from Radio Free Europe.
Dvořák stated that as of March 17, seven more EU countries—Austria, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Belgium—had joined this initiative.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had signed an executive order to cut funding for seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees RFE/RL and Voice of America (VOA).
Just hours after the order was issued, media reports surfaced about a letter from the oversight agency indicating that Congress-approved grants funding RFE/RL had been halted. The letter was signed by Kerri Lake, who identified herself as a senior adviser to the agency’s acting CEO and Trump’s nominee for the Voice of America leadership.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus commented on X, stating: “Without us, nearly 50 million people in closed societies would lose access to the truth about the world.”