Reporters Without Borders Report for Luxembourg

Luxembourg is currently placed in the 20th spot on most recent publication of the Press Freedom Index on the Reporters Sans Frontieres website.

This is a sharp fall from its number two spot it was displayed in just a year ago. Luxembourg and other European countries are cited as reasons showing how countries with a low rank can no longer look up to Europe as the ideal media safe-haven for journalists being that many European countries have fell many places.

Other countries that drastically fell from spots were France, Croatia and Kazakhstan.

Luxembourg has come far since 2002 when it was accused by the European Court of Human Rights for violating a journalist's rights, by improving relations with media and being more aware of journalist's rights.

Freedom House Press Reports

Both countries are considered relatively "free" countries when it comes to the press as it does when it comes to business in general.

Freedomhouse.org is a an organization that acts as a watchdog specifically looking at media all countries around the world. They report on the news but especially when it comes to news regarding freedom of the press. The countries' freedom is determined by a method of applying a number to three categories with 0 being the best and 100 being the worst. This number is decided after answering 23 questions about the said country and then assessing its' freedom in depth.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.photius.com/

For Luxembourg, the numbers are low (good) with legal environment being a 2, political environment being a 3, and economic environment being a 7, making the total score a low 12 thus declaring the country a "free" country. Freedoms of speech and press are guaranteed in the constitution with the country employing "an independent press council deals with press complaints and ethical questions." Its immense freedom allows this rich media country to influence many other countries especially in Western Europe. According to a 2007 report, the country has not been a place where any journalists have been attacked or harrassed. Newspapers are privately owned thus adding to the freedom of the press. Also with new media rising the internet is still very much unrestricted in Luxembourg promoting media growth and strength is this country.

Monaco has a slightly higher (worse) freedom number than Luxembourg but is still considered "very free" with a number of 16. According to freedomhouse.org, this country is given a 3 for legal environment, a 7 for political environment, and a 6 for economic environment. Freedom of expression is guaranteed as well for citizens of Monaco but as said in a previous post, the exception to this freedom is the prosecution of any citizen who "denounces the ruling family." Most of the media in Monaco is government-owned in comparison to Luxembourg but this does not stop the country from being a free country. Also like Luxembourg, Monaco gives its citizens unrestricted internet access.

In relation to our country, the United States, Luxembourg and Monaco can be considered more "free" countries when it comes to media. The United States merits a slightly higher number of 17 by freedomhouse.org. This number though is not too much higher therefore we can derive from this observation that to live in Monaco or Luxembourg, the media system and make-up would be similar to our country.

New Trial for the Husband of Princess Caroline Yields a Lesser Fine.

Prince Ernst August with wife, Princess Caroline

Photo Courtesy of everseradio.com

In Monaco today, Prince Ernst August of Hannover, the husband of the daughter of the late actress, Grace Kelly, received a lesser fine than his earlier one in a trial resulting from his assault on a man in Kenya hotel.

August was originally fined 450,000 Euros but the verdict from the new trial granted him a fine of only 200,000 Euros. The defense was seeking complete acquittal arguing that hotel manager, Josef Brunlehner, had misrepresented his injuries. The court eventually found Ernst guilty of a lesser charge of actual bodily harm with the judge, Andreas Schlueter, stating that, "the court was not in a position to be able to decide between the two versions." This was not Ernst's first brush with the law. According to TimesOnline the prince "first made headlines in 1999 when he was fined for attacking a attacking a German photographer with an umbrella." The trial took place in Germany.

Odeon Towers Building Project Halted Again in Monaco

After long negotiations that led to foundations being laid for the Odeon Towers this month, the building process has been halted by mayor of Beausoleil, Gerard Spinelli.

Controversy has long since surrounded the towers before the project commenced. Last year an investigation was launched into Spinelli and the alleged charges of taking money from the project and "influencing the project getting the go ahead," reports The Monaco Times.

Spinelli who was released from prison three months ago, has stopped construction work in protest to the charges brought against him last year and as an attempt to "clear his name of corruption charges," according to The Monaco Times.

Photo Courtesy of rivieratimes.com

The towers have been the source of dismay from the start with opponents including, Nicolas Sarkozy and surrounding residents.

Monaco's Influence on European Media

With its proximity to France as well as sharing the same official language of French, it is obvious the influence of Monaco on France and vice versa. The strong link of France and Monaco was further strengthened when the Treaty of July 1918 was signed by both countries stating France as a defender of Monaco's indepedence and sovereignty. Monaco in return would thus use its French-protected rights to promote the interests of France. France's strong presence in the European Union in all aspects including culture and diplomacy is the main connection between the EU and  the small principality of Monaco.

According to the official government website for France, the French language is spoken by 180 million people worldwide, exemplifying the influence of the language in general and the large arena for media in any French-speaking country. Other influences are the use of the Euro as currency despite not being part of the European Union and being part of various international organizations such as Interpol and UNESCO.

All of the facts above attest to why Monaco's broadcasting media gained momentum in the 1960's despite being such a small country in both size and population. According to BBC News, "from the 1960's Radio Monte-Carlo used powerful transmitters to reach listeners across much of France." As stated in a previous blog post, Monaco also to this day does not house any daily newspapers in its country therefore they rely heavily on French newspapers reporting on their news.

Italian is not an official language in Monaco but it is widely spoken and taught in schools. As a result, Monaco has kept a bilateral treaty with Italy since 1866 and it was last updated in 1957. The treaty is not as binding and extensive as the treaty with France but it does develop a strong symbiotic bond between the two countries. As reported by the BBC News, "the 1970's broadcasts to Italy began," by Radio Monte-Carlo who now features immense FM networks in both France and Italy.

Monaco has also held treaties pin-pointing telecommunications and media since 1911 with mainly the European community as a whole and the European Union . The first treaty involved radio, while the latest treaty, signed in 1997 involves all areas of media that Monaco has a hand in but especially broadcasting resources. A list of treaties can be viewed at the official Monaco website.

S. E. M. Franck Biancheri, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government Counsellor for Exterior Relations and International Economy and Finance at UN Treaty Signing in 2008.

Photo Courtesy of treaties.un.org