viktororbán

8 results arranged by date

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a speech during the celebrations of the 62nd anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, in Budapest, Hungary, on October 23, 2018. Hungarian authorities brought criminal charges against a prominent investigative journalist on October 18. (Reuters/Bernadett Szabo)

Hungarian authorities bring criminal charges against prominent investigative journalist

Berlin, November 7, 2018–Hungarian authorities should immediately drop criminal charges against prominent investigative reporter András Dezső and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Members of the European Parliament take part in a vote in Strasbourg, France, on September 12, 2018. EU lawmakers voted in favor of a resolution to trigger Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union against Hungary for breaching EU values. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

CPJ calls on EU to keep up pressure on Hungary amid press freedom concerns

Brussels, September 12, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today welcomed the vote by members of the European Parliament in favor of a resolution against Hungary for breaching EU values, and called on the bloc to keep up pressure on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán addresses supporters in Budapest after partial results of the country's parliamentary elections are announced on April 8, 2018. (Reuters/Leonhard Foeger)

Independent journalists in Hungary brace for tough times in next Orbán term

As Hungary’s new Parliament holds its first session, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is due to form his third consecutive government after a landslide re-election a month ago, journalists critical of his power will closely monitor his words for hints of what awaits them in the next four years.

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Viktor Orbán at a European Parliament debate about Hungary in May. His government has brought in a law that will make it harder for journalists and others to make Freedom of Information Act requests. (AFP/Frederick Florin)

New hurdles for Hungary’s press as Orbán restricts FOI requests

“This is the best thing that has ever happened in Hungary.” Katalin Erdélyi, a freedom of information activist, was referring to a ground-breaking website launched in Hungary in 2012. “I was glad because I realized the potential and how it will help me get all the information I longed for,” she told me. The website,…

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The rubble of a school bombed by the Sudanese government in 2012. To set up a news agency to cover the conflict, humanitarian worker Ryan Boyette used crowdfunding. (AP/Ryan Boyette)

Journalists overcome obstacles through crowdfunding and determination

During South Africa’s Boer War, at the turn of the 20th century, a determined news organization relocated reporters, copy editors, and printing presses to the front line to ensure accurate reporting. In the Warsaw Ghetto, during World War II, a literal underground press, established to counter Nazi propaganda, required the nightly movement of cumbersome printing…

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Hungarian journalists work in climate of self-censorship, fear

Budapest, October 17, 2014–On a rare mission to a European Union country, a CPJ delegation led by board member Kati Marton was in Hungary this week to meet with journalists, media lawyers, managers, rights defenders, policy analysts, and government officials to discuss Hungary’s press freedom record.

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Viktor Orban was re-elected Hungary's prime minister by Parliament in May. (Reuters/Bernadett Szabo)

Hungary’s independent media struggle against economic pressure, intimidation

“This is a new wave of clampdowns by the government–they want to have another four-year term with even less critical media than before,” said Szabolcs, a 21-year-old economics student, one of thousands of people who marched in the streets of Budapest in June, chanting “Free Country, Free Press!” The demonstrations were in reaction to several…

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Red flags in the European Union press freedom debate

The European Union enjoys waving the banner of press freedom overseas. However, it is sometimes at a loss when it has to define its approach to press freedom among its own member states. Last year, the EU tried and failed to convince the Hungarian government to radically amend its highly controversial media law. The conservative…

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