DW's Press Freedom Day gift to Greece

Deutsche Welle (DW) and Greece enjoy a special relationship. During the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974, DW's Greek service took a clear stance on behalf of those fighting for freedom and democracy within Greece and in exile.

From 1969 onwards, DW reported extensively on the resistance. And Greeks heard about mass arrests and torture for the first time.

Since then, many Greeks have remained loyal followers of Germany's international broadcaster and value it as a reliable source of information.

'Voices of Freedom'

On World Press Freedom Day on May 3, DW Director General Peter Limbourg continued this tradition on a trip to Athens. Limbourg presented Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos with a CD featuring DW broadcasts from the time of dictatorship.

"The Greek service of the DW was the voice of freedom during the military dictatorship," said Limbourg. "Even more than 50 years later it is still an example of how important foreign broadcasting is when democracy is in danger."

President Pavlopoulos thanked DW on behalf of all Greeks "for being the voice of freedom and democracy from the heart of Europe during the dictatorship. But also for the constructive role it played during the financial crisis."

Read more: Greeks recall 1973 student defiance of junta

The recordings come from the archive of the late writer and journalist Alexander Skinas, one of the main commentators of the Greek editorial team in the early 1970s. Two contributions by Giorgos Nikolaou, the then editor-in-chief, who later served as Vice President of the European Parliament, are also on the audio document, among them an interview with a penitent spy in the service of the junta, created shortly after the dictatorship was overcome.

For the head of DW's Greek service, Spiros Moskovou, the CD is a testament to the power of radio in Greece at that time. "It is very revealing to see how the colleagues then kept the balance between open condemnation of the regime and the standards of professional, independent journalism," Moskovou said.

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