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When you
see the top echelon of the EU press corps--The
Guardian, Die Sueddeutsche Zeitung,
Le Soir, and others--gathering in
front of a meeting room at the European Parliament in Brussels you know that
you should follow them inside. These seasoned correspondents select their
assignments with a keen sense of urgency, and when they skip the daily 12 o'clock
press briefing at the European Commission you know that they mean business.
Indeed, on
Tuesday, the room was packed at the hearing convened by the Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the third largest political group of
the European Parliament. The topic--the new Hungarian media law--is headline news
in Brussels. There is outrage at what is seen as a crude attack against press
freedom that, if not blocked, might contaminate other EU countries. But there
is also bewilderment: How is it that a country on the verge of assuming the
rotating presidency of the EU dared to adopt in late December despite successive
warnings a highly contentious new law on the media? "It looks like a
provocation," said a European Commission official who requested anonymity because
he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue. "When you get such a
prestigious mandate you avoid controversies that will undermine your action,
especially if you are a small member state."
The panelists
invited by the Liberal group did not mince their words to condemn a law that
severely restricts press freedom and tightens state control on the media. In a
video interview from Budapest the famous dissident under communism and renowned
writer György Konrad described the press law as "a case study in Demokratura, a
kind of regime that offers "a mix between democracy and dictatorship." "My
country," he warned, "is reverting to the old rhetoric of statism,
centralization and paternalism and moving away from liberal democracy."
Miklos
Haraszti, former OSCE representative on freedom of the media, denounced an
"unprecedented" attack against press freedom aimed at establishing the subordination
of the media to the whims of the ruling party and instituting self-censorship
among journalists. "It is practically like in Belarus," he added. "This law is
the tip of the iceberg at the ending point of a process whereby the Hungarian
government is misusing its legislative majority to methodically dismantle legal
balances and constitutional guarantees."
György
Schöpflin, a leader of Fidesz, the Hungarian ruling party, and a member of the
center-right European People's Party (EPP), tried to counter the accusations.
But his arguments fell flat: Instead of providing a legalistic rebuttal he
mostly put the blame on an alleged anti-Hungarian conspiracy pushed by
begrudged members of the opposition and arrogant Western European media. He
even accused his critics of "boosting Euro-skepticism and the far right in
Hungary."
The real
news however was the presence of EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie
Kroes. Of course, she belongs to the Dutch center-right Liberal party and she
might have relished the occasion to sting a member of a rival parliamentary
group but a commissioner is supposed to be "politically neutral" and in any
case speaks on behalf of the entire commission.
"You are
well aware that, beside specific questions concerning the audiovisual media
services directive, the new media law raises broader political questions
concerning freedom of expression," she said. "Freedom of expression constitutes
one of the essential foundations of our democratic societies."
Kroes
promised that her services would seriously and thoroughly analyze the Hungarian
law. She also confirmed that Orban last Friday in Budapest committed himself to
"making adjustments should the commission find that aspects of the law do not
conform with the EU rules."
"I am fully
confident," she concluded, "that Hungary, being a democratic country, will take
all the necessary steps to ensure that the new media law is implemented in full
respect of the European values on media freedom and relevant EU legislation."
The EU knows
that it cannot skip the debate. Far from just being a case of legal
compatibility with EU laws, the Hungarian press legislation is seen as a major
assault against the values enshrined in the European Charter of fundamental
rights and the European Convention on human rights. "It is not about respecting a technical
directive," said Dutch center-left liberal MEP Sophie In't Veld. "It is about
the core values of the EU."
Next week
the controversy will travel to Strasbourg, the other seat of the European
Parliament, where deputies will meet in plenary session to listen to Orban's
official presentation of the priorities of the Hungarian EU presidency.
"We don't
want to mix questions linked to the rotating presidency with the controversy on
the press law," confided Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian prime minister and the
current president of the European Liberal and Democrats group.
Indeed, but
most observers agree that the Hungarian government has already decided
otherwise by sticking to a national political agenda that risks ruining its
presidency of the European Union.
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Ma elkezdődtek az elbocsájtások a magyar közmédiában. Több televíziós újságíró megkapta felmondólevelét. Olyanok is, akiknek öt gyerekük van.
They began today it dismissing in the Hungarian public media.