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Shooting the messenger is an ancient European tradition; it’s just rare for the messenger to be struck by his own masters, as happened this week to Italian journalist Gabriele Nunziati.
Nunziati’s “crime” was that he posed a provocative question to European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho during a press briefing in mid-October, what most journalists call “doing one’s job”.
Specifically, he asked Pinho whether the Commission, given its demands that Russia fund Ukraine’s reconstruction, also believed Israel should pay to rebuild Gaza. The spokeswoman responded that it “was an interesting question”, to which she had no comment.
After the exchange, when viral on social media, Nova – the Italian news agency for which Nunziati was working as a freelancer – severed ties with him. A spokesman for Nova defended the decision, telling The Intercept that Nunziati’s question was “technically incorrect”.
In fact, his question was absurd. To many of us, equating Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine with Israel’s war against Hamas – which was triggered by the worst massacre against Jews since the Holocaust – is not “interesting”, as Pinho suggested; it’s disgusting.
And yet, Nunziati had every right to ask it. It’s the job of journalists to ask uncomfortable, even stupid questions, even if it entails causing offence.
Nova, whatever its rationale for jettisoning Nunziati, proved that it is not a serious journalistic organisation, a reputational hit that will prove much more damaging to its future than its now ex-correspondent’s exchange in the Commission press room.
Speaking of which: The most memorable – and revealing – aspect of the Italian’s interaction with Pinho was not his question, but that the Commission’s chief spokesperson refused to answer it.
Roundup
Alternate options for Ukraine funding – The Commission is considering using common EU debt and bilateral member state grants to plug Ukraine’s funding gap, as alternative options to the hotly-debated “reparation loan”. It comes after Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever opposed using frozen Russian loans at last month’s Council meeting.
Potential for salt and sugar tax – EU Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said taxes on consumer products high in salt and sugar could be proposed in the next EU budget. However, “in-depth technical and political analysis was still needed for some of these options.” The idea has been previously floated by Health Commissioner Várhelyi to help finance public health initiatives.
Watered-down climate target – After almost 20 hours of negotiations, EU environment ministers agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to a tenth of 1990 levels by the end of the next decade. But it was only done after many concessions and flexibilities were offered to those hesitant, which some argue will severely weaken the effort. The initial proposal set a 90% carbon footprint reduction target across Europe.
Across Europe
Crete blood feud stokes public safety fears – A gunfight in a long-running vendetta between families left two dead with more than 2,000 bullets fired. Blood feuds are not uncommon in Crete and the recent deaths sparked locals’ fears of more bloodshed, raising questions about Greek gun laws.
Drones over Brussels airport – The Zaventem airport halted operations after drones were reported on Tuesday night, delaying 80 flights and leaving 400-500 passengers stranded. It’s the most recent incursion after a string of drone sightings in several airports across Europe. Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken did not blame Russia but called it a strategic operation, carried out by “professionals” to instil fear.
Is Europe in another migration crisis? – In 2015, war and global instability saw almost two million people travel into Europe. Since then, rising security concerns, economic uncertainty, and deep political polarisation have hardened attitudes, and governmental immigration policy.
