'No free press' in NATO states - British presenter on RT journalist ban

RT.com
02 May 2025, 02:16 GMT+10

Chay Bowes was detained in Bucharest as he arrived to cover the Romanian presidential election

Neither democracy nor a free press exists in modern European NATO nations, journalist and 'Going Underground' host Afshin Rattansi has told RT.

In an interview on Thursday he was asked to comment on the deportation of RT correspondent Chay Bowes from Romania. The journalist was detained upon arrival in Bucharest as he was on his way to cover the Romanian presidential election.

The upcoming vote is a re-run, since last year's election was controversially annulled following a shock win by far-right NATO skeptic Calin Georgescu, who ran as an independent candidate.

Bowes' arrest and deportation highlight "the totalitarianism of Western Europe," Rattansi said.

"The fact is: there is no democracy in these NATO nations because there is no free press. There is no free journalism," he added.

The attacks on the press in Western Europe are aimed at controlling voters' access to information, Rattansi said.

"The importance of the European Union and Britain in clamping down on journalism is to prevent their publics from understanding the issues so they can't cast a vote with an informed opinion," he said.

On the other hand, media companies such as the BBC and Sky News are allowed in Russia, the journalist added.

"They want to detain people like Chay Bowes, who reports for RT, has a show on RT. They want to detain him because they want to stop free press," Rattansi said.

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