The new US government is cancelling funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is based in Prague. This follows US President Donald Trump’s decision on Friday to reduce funding for the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to the minimum required by law.
In his decision on Friday, Trump instructed several agencies, including the USAGM, which funds the broadcasters, to limit their activities ‘to the extent permitted by applicable law’. The measure is justified as part of efforts to downsize the federal bureaucracy.
The head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Stephen Capus, described this move as ‘a great gift to America’s enemies’. ‘The Iranian ayatollahs, the communist leaders of China, and the autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the end of RFE/RL after 75 years. Giving our adversaries a victory would strengthen them and weaken America,’ he said in a statement.
‘We have always had strong bipartisan support throughout RFE/RL’s long history. Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who rely on us every week as a source of accurate news and information will no longer have access to the truth about America and the world,’ Capus added.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský regrets Washington’s decision. ‘When Radio Free Europe first started broadcasting, it was a beacon for those from whom totalitarianism had withheld the truth. Silencing Voice of America and Radio Free Europe would be a loss for all those who believe in democracy,’ Lipavský wrote on the social network X.
Billionaire and Trump campaign donor Elon Musk has called for the closure of Voice of America and RFE/RL. In his view, these media outlets are ‘insanely left-wing’. Trump has previously clashed with those in charge of Voice of America. After taking office, he appointed Kari Lake, a former presenter sympathetic to him, as head of the station.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a broadcaster founded by the US government and financed by the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). It produces radio programmes in 28 Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian languages.
The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent US government agency overseeing the broadcasting of news and information in nearly 50 languages to approximately 361 million people per week. USAGM’s total budget request for the 2025 fiscal year was $950 million to fund all operations and investments.
USAGM-funded broadcasters include media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Martí), the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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