The Prague Civil Society Centre will continue supporting established independent Russian and Belarusian media working in exile in the EU which maintain significant audiences back home through the Free Media Hub EAST. The European Commission’s project led by the Prague Centre is set to award over €2 million in grants, and provide additional funding for tailored trainings and workshops, visa and legal support, psychological support, as well as networking.
This enables journalists to continue focusing on what they do best: fearless and factual journalism. Be it independent reporting on Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine, uncovering sanctions circumvention, spy networks and malign activity in Europe, or exposing elites’ corruption and nepotism in their home countries.
“Despite increasingly sophisticated censorship, independent Russian and Belarusian media in exile continue to reach millions of people back home. In the propaganda-dominated information landscapes of these dictatorships, they provide a vital lifeline of truthful reporting. It is also important to remember that exiled journalists carry out this work at great personal risk. Even in the EU, they face persistent threats and attempts to silence them, including intimidation, harassment, and even assassination,” said Rostislav Valvoda, Executive Director of the Prague Civil Society Centre on behalf of the consortium managing the Free Media Hub EAST project.
The project brings together six organisations with expertise in supporting those striving for freedom of expression and democracy in Russia and Belarus. They operate in EU countries where exiled media have relocated to: Czechia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The consortium is led by the Prague Civil Society Centre, and includes the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence (LV), Freedom House Vilnius (LT), Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (PL), Journalists in Need Network (DE), and People in Need (CZ).
The Free Media Hub EAST builds on the first iteration of the project run between the summer 2023 and spring 2025, which provided some €2m directly to over 20 key Russian and Belarusian independent media via two distinct support programmes. With the financial and technical support, the exiled media can stabilise, produce content, invest in censorship circumvention, income generation, and platform diversification. It also enables them to engage in networking and develop synergies with peers and other EU-based media.
