Estonia rose in this year's Freedom House press freedom index, moving from the 22-24 grouping to sharing 13th to 18th place with Ireland, Monaco, New Zealand, Palau and San Marino

The annual Freedom of the Press report, compiled by the US-based NGO, measures the level of freedom and editorial independence enjoyed by the press in 197 nations and territories.

The level of press freedom in each country is measured using three categories: legal, political and economic environments. Each category is in turn divided into seven or eight questions.

Estonia’s score in the legal and economic environments categories remained the same as in 2012, but the country improved its political environment score.

According to the report, Norway and Sweden are the most press-friendly nations, followed by Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands.

Latvia is placed from 55 to 60, Lithuania is somewhat higher, at 40 to 44, while eastern neighbors Russia are at 176.
Uzbekistan, North Korea and Turkmenistan bottom out the list.

The full report can be accessed here, but more detailed information on Estonia’s performance is yet to be published.
Estonia has been included in the index since 2002.