Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said RFE/RL, based in Prague, “is one of the few credible sources in dictatorships like Iran, Belarus, and Afghanistan”.

In Eastern Europe, the US government-funded outlet reached millions of listeners during the Cold War, helping to spread democratic values while communist authorities tightly controlled local media.

Elon Musk, in charge of cost-cutting under Donald Trump, dismissed RFE/RL as “radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money”.

But RFE/RL’s president and CEO Stephen Capus said axing the broadcaster’s grant agreement “would be a massive gift to America’s enemies”.

“The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years,” he added.

Mr Capus’s concern was echoed by the independent Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which complained that thousands of journalists would be hit by the US funding cut – and that some working in censored countries were already “in grave danger”.

RFE/RL says it reaches a weekly audience of nearly 50 million people in 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan and ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Lipavsky, of the Czech Republic, said he would discuss with fellow EU foreign ministers “how to at least partially maintain its broadcasting”.

RFE/RL, Radio Free Asia and Voice of America (VOA) have relied for decades on funding from the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to cut their funding after Musk had scorned them on X, saying “shut them down”.

The move contrasts with the media policies of authorities in Russia, China and Iran, who have poured funding into their state broadcasters to counter the impact of Western liberalism around the world.

Most of VOA’s full-time staff have been put on administrative leave and the broadcaster’s contractors, who dominate the non-English language services, have been laid off, the AFP news agency reports.

Several tankers and a locomotive were ablaze, with firefighters from several regions and a mobile chemical laboratory deployed to the area, according to local media. A massive cloud of dense black smoke was visible for several kilometres.

Railway officials say nobody was injured in the incident, which occurred near Hustopeče nad Bečvou, 50km (31 miles) south-west of the Polish border, on Friday.

Benzene, which is a cancer-causing substance for humans, is an element present in aircraft fuel.

The train “split apart” and subsequently derailed, according to initial reports. A nearby electric substation also caught fire, killing power to the nearby town of Hustopeče.

Flames up to 20m high were visible when the fire broke out, one eyewitness told the Lidove Noviny newspaper.

Dramatic drone footage from the scene, released by the Czech fire service, shows several badly charred and destroyed tankers – some still burning as thick black smoke spews into the sky.

Firefighters used heavy foam to prevent the fire spreading further, while other tankers were hosed down to prevent more explosions.

A helicopter was also deployed, as well as a special chemical monitoring mobile lab. It took several hours to bring the fire under control, officials said.

The fire affected around 15 of the 17 benzene tanks the train had been transporting, a fire department spokesperson told local media.

“The substance should be the same in all tankers, the amount will be specified, but it is approximately 60 tonnes in one tanker. However, this does not mean that everything will burn out or leak,” Lucie Balážová said.

The fire service later said the estimated cost of the damage the fire had caused was 125 million Czech koruna (£4.1m).

A massive cloud of dense black smoke was visible for several kilometresFlames up to 20m high were visible when the fire broke out, an eyewitness said

Locals have been told to stay indoors and not open windows or doors. Officials say air quality “has not yet exceeded” any pollution limits, according to Czech news website iDNES.

Police say they will investigate the cause of the derailment.

Benzene is a colourless or light-yellow liquid with a sweet smell that can evaporate very quickly. It is used in common substances like plastic, resin, nylon and some forms of dyes, pesticides or detergents. It is very flammable.

Exposure to benzene through breathing or ingestion can cause symptoms like drowsiness, dizziness, tremors, vomiting or sleeplessness.

Very high levels of exposure can lead to unconsciousness or death, according to the CDC. Long-term exposure of a year or more could cause issues with blood, bone marrow or the immune system.