DW's outgoing Director General Peter Limbourg prepares to leave the role after 12 years | DW News

DW's outgoing Director General Peter Limbourg says the German international broadcaster has "an agenda for human rights and democracy." As he prepares to leave the role after 12 years, Limbourg said in an interview with DW: "This is the only agenda we have, and freedom of the press and freedom of expression."

Limbourg spoke about press freedom around the world and DW's mission to provide impartial information to its worldwide audience. The recent funding cuts to US public broadcaster Voice of America put Europe into "a new role, a new position," in which it has to "do more."

Asked about criticism of DW regarding its coverage of the conflict in the Middle East, Limbourg said on the whole the broadcaster had not made mistakes and emphasized it was aiming to be a "more or less objective observer" of the conflict: "We're getting criticism from pro-Israelis and we're getting criticism from pro-Palestine groups and harsh criticism and hate speech. So I think as long as we are criticized from both sides, we do something probably quite right."

DW's incoming Director General Barbara Massing is set to take over from Limbourg on October 1st 2025.

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