Trump vs. Radio Liberty \u2013 Why Europe Now Has to Save the Legacy of a Free Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is one of those stories where historical irony and political reality painfully overlap. Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty \u2013 originally founded to counter Soviet propaganda \u2013 has now become a victim of authoritarian arbitrariness. Not in Moscow, but in Washington. More precisely: in the White House under Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the newsroom of this historic international broadcaster works day by day to deliver independent information to Russia, Iran, or Uzbekistan, its own funding is being cut off. Seventy-five million US dollars had already been approved by Congress for the current fiscal year. But the Trump administration is withholding the money \u2013 without explanation, without transparency, and without respect for democratic oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is presented as fiscal necessity \u2013 the need for \u201ccuts\u201d \u2013 quickly reveals itself to be an ideological agenda. Kari Lake, Trump\u2019s influential adviser, has publicly labeled the Radio Liberty family as \u201canti-American.\u201d She oversaw the dismissal of more than 500 employees at Voice of America and its parent agency. Contracts were canceled, international bureaus shuttered, voices silenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the very countries that these broadcasters were originally meant to support are stepping in: the Europeans. Last week, the EU provided six million euros in emergency aid. Sweden has pledged another two million. This is not just a symbolic act of solidarity \u2013 it is a last-minute intervention. Dozens of editorial teams were already on the brink, contracts frozen, programming reduced, journalists placed on furlough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steve Capus, president of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty, spoke in Brussels of a \u201crescue operation in an emergency.\u201d The broadcaster remains \u201cexistentially threatened\u201d as long as Washington fails to release the approved funds. As recently as Monday, Capus had to go back to court, seeking a temporary restraining order to force the release of the May budget. A federal judge had already ordered the administration to pay $12 million in April \u2013 but legal certainty is no longer assured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put it succinctly: the rescue is a \u201cshort-term emergency measure to safeguard independent journalism.\u201d But the deeper question remains: why must Europe step in when an American president is dismantling his own publicly funded international broadcasting network?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer lies in the structure. Radio Liberty has always been an instrument of American public diplomacy. But the political polarization in the United States, Trump\u2019s contempt for critical journalism, and the ideological radicalization of his administration make one thing clear: this structure is no longer sustainable. If a press institution depends solely on the goodwill of the executive branch, it is not free \u2013 it is vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rick Stengel, a former undersecretary of state under Obama, has proposed a new solution: a transatlantic funding model. RFE\/RL, jointly supported by EU states and the US, could be protected from domestic political attacks. \u201cIt was once a postwar project to counter the Soviet shadow,\u201d says Stengel. \u201cNow it is time for a relaunch \u2013 as a shared defense of the free press.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because what is at stake is more than a broadcasting network. It is a symbolic bulwark against the logic of lies. Against the ideology of indifference. And against a new generation of authoritarian leaders \u2013 those who secure their power not through arguments, but through the systematic destruction of the public sphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That this threat now comes from Washington itself shows that the defense of truth is no longer just a geopolitical issue. It is a civilizational one. And it begins \u2013 with a radio station.<\/p>\n
Trump gegen Radio Liberty \u2013 Warum Europa nun das Erbe der freien Presse retten muss. Es ist eine jener Geschichten, bei denen sich historische Ironie und politische Realit\u00e4t schmerzhaft \u00fcberlappen. Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty \u2013 einst gegr\u00fcndet im Kampf gegen sowjetische Propaganda \u2013 ist heute selbst zum Opfer autorit\u00e4rer Willk\u00fcr geworden. Nicht in Moskau, sondern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu-news","category-trump-s-world"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kaizen-blog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/radio-liberty.webp?fit=500%2C281&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Rainer Hofmann","author_link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/author\/admin\/"},"yoast_head":"\n