ATHENS – The International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) annual general meeting in the Greek capital will look at issues of reporters’ safety around the world, including the question of stifled media freedom in Greece.

It will be held at the at the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) and include the heads of journalists associations’ from Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Panama, Peru, Somalia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as representatives of the Arab world.

It is also expected that representatives from more than 147 countries will also attend the event online, as IFJ represents more than 600,000 professional journalists across the globe, said Greece’s state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency AMNA.

The economic situation of journalists around the world will be discussed, as will actions and reports on the situation listed by country during a time when reporters are under siege from online threats, physical attacks and being killed and jailed for writing the truth.

IFJ’s President Dominique Pradalie and Secretary-General Anthony Bellanger, from France, will oversee the event that will include  European Federation of Journalists’ (EFJ) President Maja Sever and Vice-President Mustafa Kuleli from Turkey.

“These two days will be an opportunity to address the state of press freedom in Greece and how jobs are being targeted in our industry,” Pradalie said, with Greece having the worst record for press freedom in the European Union.

The event comes ahead of the May 21 election in which Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been accused by critics, including media freedom groups, of stifling the press and journalists also being surveilled.