Cyprus has fallen to 80th place out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, according to findings published on Thursday by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The country remains the second-lowest ranked European Union member state, ahead only of Greece, and recorded a total score of 56.9 out of 100, just above the global average.

Within the Europe-Balkans region, Cyprus registered the sharpest decline in its political score and the weakest legal score, reflecting restrictions on journalists’ ability to work without interference, access information and protect their sources.

“Cyprus continues in the decline that started in 2022 and accelerated in 2024,” said RSF Prague bureau director Pavol Szalai, pointing to a sustained drop from 26th place in 2021 to 65th in 2022 and 77th last year.

Szalai drew attention to proposed legislation that would allow a prosecutor appointed by the president or the head of the intelligence service to lift the confidentiality of journalistic sources.

“Confidentiality of journalistic sources is a cornerstone of press freedom,” he said, warning that such measures “would be very dangerous”.

Concerns were also raised over a draft law criminalising the dissemination of so-called fake news, alongside what Szalai described as an increasing pattern of government officials refusing to answer questions from journalists.

He further cited disputes over press accreditation during Cyprus’ EU council presidency, where authorities required journalists to hold specific state-issued press cards while rejecting those from the Union of Journalists.

These actions were “clearly undermining the right of journalists to access public information,” he said.

The report also referenced the handling of allegations by investigative journalist Makarios Drousiotis, criticising authorities for failing to investigate claims of surveillance and hacking of his devices.

Szalai said such issues must be viewed within a broader context, describing Cyprus as “a very small market with a lot of media ownership concentration”, where funding structures lack transparency and the public broadcaster CyBC operates without sufficient guarantees of independence.

“Overall, this is an environment which is very constrained for free journalism,” he said.

In the north, the ‘administration’ ranked 82nd, two places below the republic.

Although this marked a rise of nine positions, the overall score improved only marginally to 56.6.

Szalai said the change did not reflect substantive progress, attributing it largely to declines elsewhere and that the north “remains sixth from the bottom in the EU-Balkans zone,” he affirmed.

The slight improvement was partly linked to a court decision dismissing a libel case brought by former Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar against newspaper Yeniduzen and journalists Cenk Mutluyakali and Serhat Incirli.

Szalai described the case as a strategic lawsuit aimed at silencing criticism and said its dismissal was a positive development.

However, he raised concern over the ongoing prosecution of journalist Ali Kismir, who still faces up to ten years in prison over an article critical of Turkish influence in elections.

Szalai said Kismir was “unjustly prosecuted” and that a constitutional court ruling remained pending.

RSF also pointed to increasing pressure from Turkey, alongside media ownership concentration and legal threats against journalists, as key factors affecting press freedom in the north.