Two Hungarian Media – Weekblad Magyar Hang And an anonymous second medium-say that on Monday to file a complaint with the European Commission for ‘illegal state aid’ of the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to pro-government media. That writes the Financial Times.
It would be more than a billion euros that was sluted to Pro-Orbán newspapers, television channels and online platforms through advertising yields between 2015 and 2023. In this way, the Hungarian government would push independent and critical journalism from the market, say the media companies.
Kai-Euwe Kühn, a former EU officer who wrote an economic study to substantiate the complaint, says to Ft That the state aid is part of a campaign on the media landscape to rid of critical media. “As soon as someone takes over a newspaper and turns it into a pro-government newspaper, you see the advertising yields rising dramatically.” According to Kühn, the data shows a causal relationship between the alleged illegal state aid and the pro-government position of media.
Low
The NGO Reporters Without Borders keeps a ranking every year from countries in the field of freedom of press, and Hungary scored particularly low in 2024. Where the Netherlands is in fourth place, Hungary is in 67. “Premier Orbán has built a true media empire, subject to the recommendations of his party,” writes the organization in the World Press Freedom Index.
Independent media in Hungary are under pressure “politics, economically and through legislation.” Partly due to a lack of state aid and because companies are afraid of advertising in critical media, independent newspapers and media in the country have fell at bushes in recent years.