The European Union and its Member States condemn the horrific and cowardly attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in France on Wednesday 7 January. The attack was not only an attack on over twenty innocent civilians, but also on two of the most fundamental values shared by the European Union and democracies the world over – Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press.

On 7 January twelve individuals, including ten of Charlie Hebdo’s staff and two French police officers, paid the ultimate price in defence of these values. They were murdered in cold blood for doing their jobs, for exercising not just their own rights and freedoms, but those of all of us.

We thank everyone who stand in solidarity with us and in defence of freedom everywhere. A chorus of condemnation has rung out across the globe following this barbaric attack. Those who would seek to deprive us of our fundamental freedoms, anywhere in the world, should be left in no doubt that our collective resolve to defend these freedoms will never be diminished.