Deutsche Welle has reversed its decision to shut down its Greek-language service. The closure of the service, after 62 years of continuous operation, had been decided last February as part of €20 million in cuts to German public broadcasting. The Greek service was the only one of the 32 programs for which closure had been decided.

The decision prompted a huge backlash, while institutional and political figures, as well as representatives of organisations from across the spectrum, both within and outside Greece, intervened in support of the continued operation of the historic service. According to information, DW executives described the reaction as “historic”. However, initially, no one believed that a decision taken by the German authorities at the highest level could be reversed — indeed, there is no precedent for such a move. It is worth noting that the annual cost of operating the Greek service, which produces original online, radio and television content and is increasing its presence on social media, amounts to €720,000. At the same time, the Greek service’s content is distributed to Greek media outlets through official agreements with DW. Protothema.gr is an official DW partner.

The backlash, combined with the striking rise in the measurable performance of the Greek program even after the decision was taken to abolish it on 31 December 2026, played a decisive role in the reversal of the decision. It should be noted that the reversal was taken unanimously, whereas the decision to close the service had been adopted by a majority.

DW will ultimately proceed with €10 million in cuts, which will be distributed proportionally across the entire program.