Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European Union government ministers on March 18, 2025, debated how to keep Radio Free Europe alive after the Trump administration halted grants to the media outlet over the weekend.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty began broadcasting at the height of the Cold War. Its programs are broadcast in 27 languages in 23 nations across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
In her remarks, Sweden’s European Affairs Minister Jessica Rosencrantz emphasized the need to ensure that
“Radio Free Europe really continues to be an important voice for freedom and democracy, especially in those places where it is most needed.”
“Sweden encourages all countries and the (European) Commission to really look into what we can do in terms of financing, to make sure that we continue to have a strong Radio Free Europe,”
She said in Brussels on the eve of the meeting.
The outlet was caught up in the controversy as President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday started making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy programming.
“The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies,”
Said the network’s President and CEO in a statement following the move.
How did Radio Free Europe influence Kaja Kallas?
A day earlier, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas talked about the influence the network had on her as she was raised in Estonia, which was territory of the Soviet Union when she was a child.
“It is sad to hear that U.S is withdrawing its funding,”
Kallas told journalists.
“Coming from the other side of the Iron Curtain, actually it was (from) the radio that we got a lot of information,”
She added.
“So, it has been a beacon of democracy, very valuable in this regard.”
But Kallas stated that finding
“funding to fill the void that the U.S. is leaving”
Would not be straightforward.
“The answer to that question is not automatically, because we have a lot of organizations who are coming with the same request,”
She also said.
Radio Free Europe has been based in the Czech Republic for 25 years, although its corporate headquarters is in Washington, has been leading the charge to keep the network alive. Kallas stated that
“there was really a push from the foreign ministers to discuss this and find the way.”
