# Incidents in Europe, stage: pressure, national level

Each incident is a dated action by a government, an official, a regulator, a court or a legislature that limited journalists' ability to gather or publish news.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

Filters: country, continent, tactic, stage, from, to, level, actor, leader, outlet, outcome, source_kind, has_case, plus q, sort (date, date_asc, country, tactic, relevance), per_page (up to 100), page and view (table or cards), as query parameters.

11 incidents match this view.

| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 4 August 2026 | [Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Official labels](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/disinformation_labeling) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained (4 August 2026) |
| 20 June 2024 | [Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr) | [Slovakia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/sk) ([RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Licensing and closure of outlets](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/outlet_licensing) | [Robert Fico](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/robert-fico) | Sustained (1 July 2024) |
| 20 December 2023 | [Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act) | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Official labels](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/disinformation_labeling) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Reversed (30 June 2026) |
| 9 March 2022 | [Belarus: Deutsche Welle and other outlets labeled 'extremist'](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-belarus-labels-dw-extremist) | [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) ([RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Official labels](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/disinformation_labeling) | [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko) | Sustained (9 March 2022) |
| 23 April 2021 | [Russia: independent outlet Meduza designated a 'foreign agent'](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-russia-designates-meduza-foreign-agent) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Official labels](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/disinformation_labeling) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained (23 April 2021) |
| 24 July 2020 | [Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired) | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Funding and ownership pressure](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Sustained (24 July 2020) |
| 7 March 2019 | [Russia: new laws penalize online "fake news" and "disrespecting authorities"](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-russia-fake-news-disrespect-law) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Official labels](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/disinformation_labeling) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained (7 March 2019) |
| 26 October 2018 | [Russia: outlet fined $338,000 under the foreign agents law](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-russia-fines-the-new-times) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Lawsuits against the press](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/lawsuits_against_press) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Ongoing (26 October 2018) |
| February 2017 | [Malta: minister orders reporter's bank account frozen](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2017-malta-freezes-caruana-galizia-account) | [Malta](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/mt) (RSF rank: not recorded) | [Lawsuits against the press](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/lawsuits_against_press) | [Joseph Muscat](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/joseph-muscat) | Unknown |
| 31 December 2015 | [Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-poland-public-media-law-firings) | [Poland](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/pl) ([RSF 2026 rank: 27th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Funding and ownership pressure](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure) | [Beata Szydlo](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/beata-szydlo) | Sustained (31 December 2019) |
| 21 December 2010 | [Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority) | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Funding and ownership pressure](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/funding_and_ownership_pressure) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Sustained (1 January 2011) |

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- CSV: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&stage=pressure&level=national&format=csv
- JSON: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?continent=europe&stage=pressure&level=national
- Markdown: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=europe&stage=pressure&level=national

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- Incidents (Atom): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/atom.xml
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- All incidents (CSV): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.csv

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&stage=pressure&level=national. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.