Czech Minister Urges EU Response In Wake Of Trump Cuts To Radio Free Europe
By EurActiv
By Aneta Zachová and Charles Szumski
(EurActiv) — Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said he plans to raise the issue of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) at Monday’s gathering of foreign ministers from across the European Union in Brussels, following moves by US President Donald Trump to yank funding from several media outlets over the weekend.
Lipavský argued on Czech TV on Sunday that Europe should launch a broader political discussion given what the broadcaster means for the continent, although he wasn’t sure exactly what steps the EU could take. In a post on X, Lipavský wrote that he wanted to explore “how to at least partially maintain” RFE/RL’s broadcasting operations.
The Czech minister’s comment comes after the Trump administration placed journalists at several US-funded broadcasters – including RFE/RL and Voice of America – on leave on Saturday after it froze their funding.
The White House framed it as part of an effort to reduce US federal bureaucracy and a purge of “radical propaganda”. But in Prague, where RFE/RL has its headquarters, the reaction has been one of alarm. The media outlet played an important historical role in opposing communist rule in Czechoslovakia, and across the Eastern Bloc, before 1989.
It is in Europe’s interest that such broadcasting continues, Lipavský said, adding that RFE/RL provides crucial support to democratic forces in Eastern European and Asian countries.
He also called RFE/RL a “beacon” for those under totalitarian rule.
“From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, RFE and Voice of America are among the few free sources for people living without freedom,” he said on X. He also suggested that those outlets are important for countering Kremlin narratives.
“This is a gift to America’s enemies,” warned RFE/RL President Stephen Capus in an articlepublished on Saturday, a sentiment echoed by the international press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, which condemned the move as a betrayal of America’s historic commitment to press freedom.
However, Trump’s allies, including senior US Agency for Global Media adviser Kari Lake, defend the cuts, arguing the agency is a “giant rot” wasting taxpayer dollars. Lake claimed that projected savings could hit $700 million by 2026.
Elon Musk, a key administration figure, cheered the decision on the X social media platform, which he owns. Musk dismissed the US government-backed outlets as “radical left crazy people talking to themselves”.
Centre-right Czech MEP Danuše Nerudová said she also intends to raise the broadcaster’s future within the European Parliament.
File photo of the Czech Republic’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. Photo Credit: VOA
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Trump cuts off funding for pro-democracy media outlets VOA and RFERL
President Trump's administration has cut off funding for Voice of America, Radio Liberty and other pro-democracy media that broadcast to undemocratic states.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched a broad cutback of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other government programmes aimed at defending democracy. The organisation's director said all Voice of America staff have been placed on "administrative" leave.
On Friday night, shortly after Congress passed the latest funding bill, Trump instructed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. These included the U.S. Global Media Agency, a budget-funded government organisation to which the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia, and Radio Marti, which broadcasts Spanish-language news to Cuba, all report.
On Saturday morning, Carey Lake, a failed gubernatorial and US Senate candidate from Arizona whom Trump appointed as a senior adviser to the agency, wrote on website X that employees should check their emails.
In another post she described the U.S. Global Media Agency as "the most corrupt agency in Washington DC."
The video released by Lake talks about cost-cutting measures but does not mention Voice of America's staff or mission. The video was filmed in a building leased by VOA, which Lake called a waste of money. She said she would try to terminate the agency's 15-year lease on the building.
"We're doing everything we can to cancel contracts that can be cancelled, save money, reduce staffing and make sure your dollars are not misused," she said.
The letter places employees on administrative leave and says they will continue to receive pay and benefits "until notified otherwise." The letter instructs employees not to use the Global Media Agency's facilities and to return equipment such as phones and computers.
In a post on X the Czech Republic's foreign minister said he would raise the cuts with the Council of Europe on Monday.
"Radio Free Europe is one of the few credible sources in dictatorships like Iran, Belarus, and Afghanistan. Tomorrow at the Council of Foreign Ministers, I will discuss with my colleagues how to at least partially maintain its broadcasting," Jan Lipavský said.
"A gift for America's enemies"
"For the first time in 83 years, the illustrious Voice of America has gone silent," the organisation's director Michael Abramowitz said in a statement. He added that virtually the entire staff of 1,300 people has been put on leave.
"Voice of America promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America's story and providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny," Abramowitz said.
One reporter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said: "We expected something like this to happen, and it happened just today."
Reporters Without Borders, an international non-governmental organisation, said it "condemns the decision as a departure from the historic role of the United States as a defender of free information and calls on the US government to reinstate Voice of America and calls on Congress and the international community to take action against this unprecedented move."
The US Global Media Agency has also sent out notices terminating grants for Radio Free Asia and other programmes under its purview. "Voice of America" broadcasts United States domestic news to other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and Marty broadcast news to countries with authoritarian regimes in those regions, particularly China, North Korea and Russia.
"The cancellation of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty grant agreement will be a huge gift to America's enemies," network president and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement.
Together, the networks reach about 427 million people. They date back to the Cold War and are part of a network of government-funded organisations trying to expand US influence and fight authoritarianism. These organisations include USAID, another agency that Trump has opposed.
The cuts are a sharp blow to a key element of the post-Cold War order, which has long enjoyed bipartisan support. Voice of America executives included Dick Carlson, father of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
Thomas Kent, former president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said Trump's intentions for those agencies are still murky. Without these news sources, he said, it will be much harder for the country to get its message out to the world.
"Without international broadcasting, the image of the United States and the Trump administration will be in the hands of others, including opponents of the administration, (as well as) countries and people who view the United States as an enemy," said Kent, an international media ethics consultant.
Trump's downsizing order also includes several other lesser-known government agencies such as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (a nonpartisan think tank), the US Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
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