Against the background of significant compression of the German federal budget, Germany's international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) officially announced that it will completely shut down its Greek service starting from January 1, 2027. This decision means that among the 32 languages currently operated by Deutsche Welle, Greek will become the only language department to be completely cancelled, triggering concern in the media industry and Greek public opinion about the shrinking influence of European public broadcasting.
According to Deutsche Welle management, the cuts stem from reduced state subsidies and uncompensated salary costs. In 2026, the federal allocation will be reduced by 10 million euros to 415 million euros, and with additional costs of approximately 11 million euros, the agency will need to fill a funding gap of approximately 21 million euros. In response to financial pressure, Deutsche Welle will reduce its multilingual news operations and integrate German news and language teaching. About 160 full-time positions are expected to be affected, but there are no plans to lay off employees.
Deutsche Welle emphasized in a statement that the Greek language service has great historical significance. It provided independent information to the Greek public during the military government from 1967 to 1974, and also became an important channel for communication between Germany and Greek society during the Eurozone financial crisis. But management believes that now that Greece is a "stable EU democracy" with a diverse media environment, Deutsche Welle must redirect its resources to media-restricted areas to maintain its international role as a freedom defender.
This decision was seen by many observers as the end of an era. During the Cold War and military junta years, Greece formed a "foreign media information triangle" represented by Deutsche Welle, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Voice of America (VOA). Among them, the BBC Greek service was closed in 2005. The withdrawal of Deutsche Welle means that the important voice of traditional European public international broadcasting in the Greek field will soon be silenced.
