‘Press freedom has limits’: top EU official slams UK newspapers as Brexit talks near ‘moment of truth’
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker – often a target of Britain’s papers – claims the press invades the privacy of people in distress
Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted that there must be limits to the freedom of the press as he accused British media of trampling over the human rights of politicians.
In an outspoken interview at a crunch point in the Brexit negotiations, the European Commission president also lamented that the former prime minister, David Cameron, had blocked him from campaigning during the 2016 referendum.
“If the commission intervened, perhaps the right questions would have entered the debate,” Juncker told a group of Austrian newspapers. “Now you discover new problems almost daily, on both sides. At that time, it was already clear to us what trials and tribulations this pitiful vote of the British would lead to. I am always amazed about what I am always blamed for.”
Juncker, 63, has been the focus of attacks in the media for his reputed fondness for alcohol and his father’s record during the second world war.
