As the son of a mother who was part of the armed resistance during the Second World War, Yoeri Albrecht became aware at an early age of the dangers of totalitarian regimes. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, he was studying History in Leiden and realised: this is history in the making. He travelled to Prague, where he witnessed the Velvet Revolution and met Václav Havel and other members of Charter 77.
Photographer Oldřich Škácha, who had captured unique images of the Prague Spring in 1968, was also part of that circle. Yoeri presented these images to Joop van Tijn, then editor-in-chief of Vrij Nederland. Van Tijn was impressed and commissioned Yoeri to write a report on Prague.
From that moment on, Yoeri’s professional life has always been centred around journalism. His journalistic work also funded his further studies at the University of Oxford. As Chair of the Board of Stichting Veronica, he is able to draw on this experience to make a difference. “In Prague, I saw that a free press is crucial to a free society. At Stichting Veronica, we have the expertise and the resources to support the independent press and the wider journalistic ecosystem, especially where democracy is under pressure. Unfortunately, that is the case in an increasing number of countries. This makes the work we do ever more relevant and urgent.”