Statement by European public service broadcasters in response to Nils Horner’s death

During a meeting in London on Wednesday evening with the Directors-General from European public service broadcasters, a joint statement was signed in honour of the Swedish correspondent Nils Horner’s memory.

Foreign correspondent Nils Horner was killed in Kabul two days ago.

The host of the meeting in London was the BBC’s Director General, Tony Hall.

“All of us who have signed the Statement would like to express our deep sadness at the killing of the Swedish Radio foreign correspondent, Nils Horner,” says Tony Hall.

“We send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues and we hope that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are held accountable,” says Tony Hall.

“It is an incredible honour and a great support to us in this difficult moment to feel such explicit sorrow from other European media companies,” says Swedish Radio Director General, Cilla Benkö.

“This is also a very clear signal of the importance of independent and qualified foreign journalism, and how important it is to protect the lives and working conditions of foreign correspondents – they expose themselves to considerable risks in order to describe the world to the public through their own eyes,” says Cilla Benkö.

The statement (attached as a PDF) has been signed by:
Cilla Benkö, Swedish Radio
Tony Hall, BBC
Ulrich Wilhelm, ARD
Thomas Bellut, ZDF
Maria Rörbye-Rönn, DR
Alexander Wrabetz, ORF
Eva Hamilton, SVT
Roger De Weck, SRG SSR
Gilles Marchand, RTS
Rudolf Matter, SRF
Lauri Kivinen, YLE
Erik Fichtelius, UR
Thor Gjermund Eriksen, NRK
Magnús Geir Thordarson, RUV

For further information please contact:

Cecilia Roos, Head of Public Affairs
cecilia.roos@sverigesradio.se  
+46 (0)73 056 71 49

Eva Sahlin, Press Officer
eva.sahlin@sverigesradio.se 
+46 (0)70 684 18 52  

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