Political and economic pressure on the media is still common to regions in Europe and Central Asia, even more than two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The increasing constraints on media freedom in countries like Azerbaijan, Belarus or Tajikistan stand in sharp contrast to a few bright spots such as Georgia, Moldova or Kyrgyzstan.
DW Akademie is responding with tailor-made projects here as well: in Southeast Europe, it encourages closer ties with the European Union, for example via a public-media competence center in the Western Balkans.
In Central Asia, the focus is on strengthening community journalism to increase ordinary people's access to information. In the South Caucasus, the attention is on media law. In the conflict in Ukraine, media professionals are set to receive further training via distance learning.
