Elon Musk says Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is irrelevant and a waste of taxpayer money. He’s wrong.
If no one were listening, why do authoritarian regimes work so hard to silence it? Russia has designated RFE/RL a “foreign agent” and an “undesirable organization.” Labels reserved for direct threats. Its journalists face harassment and imprisonment.
One of them is Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian American reporter detained in Russia for months. President Biden and colleagues at the White House and State Department secured her release. I met her afterward. A remarkable journalist.
When we defund institutions like RFE/RL, we cede ground to regimes that thrive on censorship and disinformation. RFE/RL reaches millions in places where state controlled media is the only alternative.
Václav Havel invited RFE/RL to move to Prague in 1995 because he understood what it meant to those behind the Iron Curtain. Czechs still tell me how it gave them hope during the Cold War.
People risk their lives to do this work. They deserve support.