Now at home in the European Commission’s Midday Briefing, Hussein Hasan spent two decades reporting amid war, sectarian violence and government crackdowns in Baghdad, Turkey and Syria. Yet the France 24 correspondent still recalls the jolt of his arrival in Brussels. Standing outside the Berlaymont with a camera in hand, he half expected to be stopped and asked for press credentials.

No one approached Hasan that first day in 2023. “I filmed everything and left,” he recalled. Back in Iraq or Turkey, such freedom to operate without interference would have been unthinkable.

For Hasan, who entered journalism in 2005 as a recent graduate in Baghdad, danger has always accompanied his work.

Journalism Amid Iraq’s Sectarian Violence

Determined to contribute to a new Iraq, Hasan joined a local newspaper as the country unraveled into brutal sectarian violence. Within months, he moved into television, entering a profession that had become one of the most dangerous in the world.

“At the beginning, it was safer because I was invisible,” he said. That changed as his profile grew with Al-Baghdadia TV, a channel critical of the Iraqi government. As the violence subsided, the threats shifted to censorship. “We survived the civil war,” he said, “but then we had a new challenge—the government.”

Authorities accused the station of breaching media regulations and eventually forced the closure of its Baghdad offices. Armed officers destroyed equipment without explanation.

For Hasan, it was an early lesson in the fragility of press freedom.

He continued working, first with Al Somaria and later with US-funded Alhurra, where higher pay came with greater exposure. As a recognizable face on a widely watched evening broadcast, he and his colleagues became easy targets for threats.

By 2014, after years of mounting pressure and as he prepared to start a family, Hasan decided to leave for Turkey, where he found work with France 24.

International War Correspondent in Turkey

At first, the relative openness of Turkey’s media environment astonished him. “I didn’t have a residency card or a press card,” he said. “But I could still work.”

Hasan, who moved between Turkey, Iraq and Syria to report on conflict, learned to navigate a landscape where access often depended on delicate negotiations with authorities and armed groups alike. He avoided drawing attention to his identity—he is both Kurdish and Shia—fearing it could endanger his life. “You have to trust people you know you cannot fully trust,” he said.

Colleagues disappeared. Others were detained. Protection, even as a journalist for an international outlet, was inconsistent. “Sometimes it helps,” he said. “Sometimes it makes you more visible.”

Turkey’s Post-Coup Clampdown

Turkey’s relative openness toward journalists, however, did not last. Following the failed coup in 2016, journalists—both local and foreign—faced increasing scrutiny, arrests and restrictions.

By 2021, the pressure had become personal. Summoned repeatedly for questioning by authorities, Hasan began to fear for his family’s safety. Two years later, after a protracted visa process, he relocated to Brussels.

They announce everything. But when you ask questions, they don’t comment, don’t speculate, don’t answer

Covering the European Union requires a different skill set—more persistence and deeper policy analysis. Official information is abundant, but press briefings are structured and answers can be elusive.

“They announce everything,” Hasan said. “But when you ask questions, they don’t comment, they don’t speculate, they don’t answer.”

For Hasan, the challenge is not only to report but to interpret complex policy into stories that resonate beyond the EU bubble. “Here, I have to work triple—to read, to understand, to explain.”

Europe’s Stated Commitment to Press Freedom

He is struck by the gap between Europe’s stated commitment to press freedom and the realities journalists sometimes face. Hasan recalled watching Gabriele Nunziati ask the European Commission if Israel should pay for the reconstruction of Gaza. Nunziati was subsequently fired by Agenzia Nova for his efforts.

“I was watching him live. I was telling myself, wow, that question, I should ask that question,” recalled Hasan, “and he paid a very high cost.”

Hasan’s career—from Iraq through Turkey and Syria to Brussels—has spanned the full breadth of journalism shaped by power, access and risk. The tools may change, the environment may soften, but his advice to journalists remains grounded.

“You have to build relationships, be patient,” he said. “And you have to keep asking questions.”


Oliver Money-Kyrle is a Brussels-based media freedom expert, analyst and former senior advocacy leader specialising in European journalism policy, press freedom and the structural dynamics of media capture....