Amidst sweeping German federal budget cuts, the management of Deutsche Welle (DW) has officially announced the total closure of its Greek Service, effective January 1, 2027.
While various DW departments face “trimming,” the Greek service holds a sombre distinction: out of 32 active languages, it is the only one slated for complete termination.
Deutsche Welle: The Greek Service that challenged the junta
For decades, the Greek people relied on a “holy trinity” of foreign broadcasters—DW, the BBC, and the Voice of America—to bypass local censorship.
The BBC Greek Service, famous for its Big Ben chimes and the authoritative “Edo Londino,” was shuttered in 2005. While DW was often more openly defiant and “activist,” the BBC maintained its reputation for cold, hard facts. This made it impossible for the junta to dismiss their reports as mere “exile propaganda.”
Now, with DW’s withdrawal, the last of the great European “guardian voices” is retreating from the Greek landscape.
The official DW statement acknowledged the service’s profound historical weight:
“The Greek-language service provided vital, independent information even during the dark years of the military junta (1967–1974) and served as a crucial bridge of dialogue during the Eurozone crisis. However, as Greece is now a stable EU democracy with a diverse media landscape, DW must refocus its resources.”
To many, this “refocusing” feels like a cold ending to a heroic story. During the dictatorship, DW’s Greek journalists—famously branded “The Rats of Cologne” by the colonels—risked everything to broadcast the truth. Every night at 21:40, Greeks would huddle around shortwave radios in secret to hear the news that their own state media refused to report.
The end of an era
By 2027, the frequency that once carried the hopes of a resistance movement will fall silent.
For the generation that lived through the 1970s, the loss of DW—following the 2005 loss of the BBC—represents more than just a budget cut; it is the end of a historic bond between the free European press and the Greek people.
