Thursday

23rd Mar 2023

EUobserved

Celebrate with us. EUobserver's 20 years of independent EU news

When EUobserver started in September 2000, we were one of the first online newspapers publishing for a pan-European public.

There was a lot of news, important for all Europeans - but usually only to be read in national newspapers and via domestic perspectives.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

That's why we wanted to offer news through a European lens as a way to help democratise debate across the borders.

Our type of independent journalism for European citizens was only made possible thanks to the Internet.

We chose to publish in English because it was the most broadly-understood language among the younger Europeans, who flocked to our new service.

Much to our surprise we saw a huge interest from people living in the former communist countries who then aspired to join the European Union.

Today, 20 years later, EUobserver's readership has remained strong in the eastern EU states, and also among young people.

Many universities around the world sign up to our services because their students want to study European politics.

In the last couple of years EUobserver's global audience has also been growing. One-third of our readers are now located outside Europe. Just this week people from 197 different countries read EUobserver.

We believe it is because the European Union has become an inspiration across the world in solving pressing problems of our time and showing an example of how to rule in a democratic way across borders.

Freedom of press was one of the vital values cherished by people breaking away from communism.

Freedom of speech is still vital for people demonstrating in the streets of Minsk and should never be taken for granted.

Journalistic investigation of power is always needed to keep democracy clean, non-corrupt and transparent.

Lately, we have ourselves come under pressure to delete stories or face legal challenges. Not that our articles had mistakes - they were simply not liked.

For a small publication like EUobserver, such legal battles can quickly eat up limited human resources and reduce our ability to keep producing quality journalism for readers.

During the past 20 years the world has seen a financial and economic crisis, a crisis of the euro, and a refugee crisis due to the wars in Syria and Libya.

And now we also face a climate crisis and the human and economic pandemic of Covid-19.

We witness how the US is virtually paralysed due to internal splits, which could soon result in a completely new European geo-political reality, without a strong transatlantic relationship.

During the past 20 years, more and more people have come to understand that such massive challenges can only be dealt with at the European level.

That is why today, perhaps even more than in 2000, there is need for independent, European, journalism.

EUobserver has been providing this, year-after-year, with a small but committed team of independent-thinking journalists.

Our entire team wants to thank you, our loyal readers for your interest, feedback and support.

We very much look forward to providing you with the news, analysis and expertise that you need for the 20 years to come.

Author bio

Lisbeth Kirk is the founder of EUobserver.

EUobserver under attack in wider battle for EU free press

If EU citizens want to know the truth, then journalists need protection from malicious litigation, as EUobserver joined the list of targets, over an article about the late Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Exclusive

Ombudsman backs EUobserver on MEP expenses

The European Parliament should have granted access to documents on a decision about how transparent MEPs should be in future with their office expenses, says EU Ombudsman.

Interview

2000: From Milošević to freedom - and back again

Europe's new century began with the peaceful overthrow of an old monster, Slobodan Milošević - but Serbia is less free today than it was before the revolution, Vesna Pešić said.

Magazine

20 years of EUobserver

Our special anniversary magazine gives an overview of the major events of these past 20 years - and, for every event, we talked to one of the key players. It makes this magazine a document of recent EU history.

Interview

2001: September 11 and the female Danish Imam

Sherin Khankan is a female Imam who runs the Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen. The idea for the mosque came a month before two planes slammed into the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York on 11 September, 2001.

Opinion

How much can we trust Russian opinion polls on the war?

The lack of Russian opposition to the Russo-Ukrainian War is puzzling. The war is going nowhere, Russian casualties are staggering, the economy is in trouble, and living standards are declining, and yet polls indicate that most Russians support the war.

Latest News

  1. Sweden worried by EU visa-free deal with Venezuela
  2. Spain denies any responsibility in Melilla migrant deaths
  3. How much can we trust Russian opinion polls on the war?
  4. Banning PFAS 'forever chemicals' may take forever in Brussels
  5. EU Parliament joins court case against Hungary's anti-LGBTI law
  6. Three French MEPs to stay on election-observation blacklist
  7. Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown
  8. When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us