Antonio Baquero, named European Journalist of the Year at the Prix Europa

BarcelonaThe Prix Europa have distinguished the Barcelona-born journalist Antonio Baquero with the European Journalist of the Year award "in recognition of his career, defined by courage, integrity, and a firm commitment to journalism in the service of the public interest".  

The awards organization, through a statement, highlights that the choice is due to the extraordinary investigative work, uncovering "hidden structures of wealth, influence, and financial secrecy that transcend national borders." Their reports on tax evasion and hidden assets of oligarchs have contributed to "making complex and highly relevant topics accessible to the public," thus collaborating to "generate debates on transparency, accountability, and the rule of law".

As a regional editor at the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), his cooperation has been key in coordinating major international investigations, which demonstrate the importance of collaborative journalism in matters of great significance. Some of his most notable works are Suisse Secrets, a project where the operations of the bank Credit Suisse are revealed in detail and the leak of 18,000 accounts, and The Troika laundromat, focused on locating the great fortunes of oligarchs close to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. 

Before joining the OCCPR, Baquero developed his journalistic career at El Periódico. At this newspaper, he worked as a correspondent in the Maghreb (1998-2005) and head of International (2015-2018), among others. In 2013, he was awarded the King of Spain Journalism Prize, together with Michele Catanzaro and Ángela Biesot, for his coverage of the case of Òscar Sánchez, the car cleaner imprisoned by mistake in Italy after being confused with a drug trafficker.