Filippo Giuffrida Répaci
Giuffrida Répaci (born March 19, 1964, in Turin, Italy) is an Italian journalist, correspondent on European Union affairs. He is director of the magazine La Lettre b. and a correspondent for the Italian news agency 9 Colonne.
He is also known for a 2025–2026 press freedom case in Belgium concerning the temporary withdrawal and subsequent reinstatement of his security accreditation to cover the Council of the European Union.
Education and career
Giuffrida Répaci completed a degree in Law in 1990 at the University of Genoa. He also studied at the City of London Polytechnic and the King's College London.
Répaci started his career as journalist in 1982, as speaker at the radio station Radio Riviera Tre. In 1989 he moved to Radio One and became a reporter for the News Agency Hi News. In 1994 Giuffrida Répaci moved to Brussels to become correspondent of the Agency L'Altra News.
In 2003 Répaci founded the News Agency DSPRESS and became editor in chief of the magazine L'Incontro". In 2010 he was named as director for the news magazine La Lettre b.
Since February 2019 Répaci serves as Brussels' correspondent for the Italian News Agency 9 Colonne.
Founding member of the NGO ITACA and Coordinator of the project ANTENOR, since September 2020 he is the Director of RadioCOM, the first web-radio in italian for the italian communities abroad.
In 2013 Répaci won the Michel Vanderborght Award for journalism.
In 2020 he won the Radnoty Award for journalism.
Répaci is the great-nephew of the Italian writer and journalist Leonida Rèpaci. President of the Belgian branch of ANPI Répaci was elected vice president of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters – Association of Anti-[...].
Press freedom case
In 2025, Giuffrida Répaci was denied a Belgian security clearance required to access the Council of the European Union, preventing him from carrying out part of his work as a Brussels-based correspondent.
According to reports, the refusal was justified by alleged “contacts with the extreme left”, without further specification.
As a result of the decision, Giuffrida Répaci was unable for several months to report from the Council, which is considered a key location for EU journalism.
He appealed the decision before the competent Belgian review body. In July 2025, the appeal authority overturned the refusal, stating that the decision lacked sufficient justification and supporting evidence, and ordered that the accreditation be granted.
His access was subsequently restored, allowing him to resume full journalistic activity covering EU institutions.
Significance
The case has been cited in discussions on press freedom and the balance between security procedures and journalistic access to institutions in Belgium, particularly in Brussels, one of the main hubs for European Union reporting.
Observers noted that the case raised questions regarding transparency, proportionality, and the role of intelligence services in the accreditation of journalists covering EU institutions.
The episode is considered notable due to the use of security-based restrictions affecting an accredited EU correspondent and their subsequent reversal through an appeal procedure.
Publications
Répaci is the coauthor of the book Lettere dall'Europa and frequently writes for the Italian magazine Patria Indipendente.