# Incidents in Europe, stage: punish, 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.

9 incidents match this view.

| Date | Incident | Country | Tactic | Head of government | Outcome |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 5 September 2025 | [Serbian police strike, detain and disarm journalists covering anti-government protests](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-serbia-police-target-journalists-protests) | [Serbia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/rs) ([RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Detention and violence](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/detention_and_violence) | [Aleksandar Vucic](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/aleksandar-vucic) | Ongoing |
| 16 June 2022 | [Russia: entry bans, visa restrictions and bureau closures for foreign correspondents](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-bars-entry-foreign-journalists) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained (16 June 2022) |
| 18 May 2022 | [Russia: CBC/Radio-Canada bureau closed and journalists' visas cancelled](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-expels-cbc-cancels-visas) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Expulsion and visa denial](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/expulsion_and_visa_denial) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained (18 May 2022) |
| 4 March 2022 | [Russia criminalizes 'fake' reporting on the military, up to 15 years in prison](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2022-russia-criminalizes-fake-war-reports) | [Russia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/ru) ([RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Vladimir Putin](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/vladimir-putin) | Sustained |
| July 2021 | [Hungary: investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi's phone is infected with Pegasus spyware](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-hungary-panyi-pegasus-spyware) | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Surveillance and subpoenas](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/surveillance_and_subpoenas) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Ongoing (1 July 2021) |
| 29 August 2020 | [Belarus: accreditation withdrawn from 17 journalists working for foreign outlets](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-belarus-strips-accreditation-foreign-outlets) | [Belarus](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/by) ([RSF 2026 rank: 165th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Access bans](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/access_ban) | [Alexander Lukashenko](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/alexander-lukashenko) | Sustained (29 August 2020) |
| 30 March 2020 | [Hungary criminalizes false coronavirus information and grants Orban decree powers](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-coronavirus-fake-news-law) | [Hungary](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/hu) ([RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Viktor Orban](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/viktor-orban) | Unknown |
| 18 August 2013 | [United Kingdom detains journalist's partner under terrorism law and oversees destruction of Guardian hard drives holding Snowden files](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-uk-miranda-detention-guardian-hard-drives) | [United Kingdom](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/gb) ([RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Surveillance and subpoenas](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/surveillance_and_subpoenas) | [David Cameron](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/david-cameron) | Upheld by a court (19 January 2016) |
| 20 October 1998 | [Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines) | [Serbia](https://thewaronnews.com/countries/rs) ([RSF 2026 rank: 104th of 180](https://rsf.org/en/index)) | [Insult and defamation laws](https://thewaronnews.com/tactics/insult_and_defamation_laws) | [Slobodan Milosevic](https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/slobodan-milosevic) | Reversed (1 October 2000) |

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