The European Commission has sought to respond to the controversy over an Italian journalist who was sacked for questioning its stance on Israel and Gaza, compared to the position on Ukraine.
The Brussel's administration said it had nothing to do with the firing of Gabriele Nunziati by his employer after he asked the Brussels-based institution whether Israel should pay for Gaza's reconstruction.
Mr Nunziati is one of the hundreds of journalists accredited to cover EU institutions but his situation raised questions for the Commission on its own commitment to press freedom, a core value of EU institutions.
“The European Commission attaches the utmost importance to freedom of the press. We demonstrate that commitment on a daily basis here in this press room,” said EU Commission deputy spokesman Olof Gill after news broke of Mr Nunziati's firing.
Mr Gill added that “no contact has taken place between anyone at the European Commission and the media in question”, in a reference to Mr Nunziati's employer, Nova news agency, which is based in Rome.
In a joint press r
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