The attack on press freedom in Hungary

[Hannah Bell]

Twenty years after the fall of the Stalinist regime in Hungary, the government has abolished freedom of the press. The new media law passed last week by the Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz), which enjoys a two-thirds majority in parliament, gives the government sweeping powers to monitor the press.

A five-member Media Council, headed by a long-time confidant of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, can impose tough sanctions against any media outlet whose reporting is not “balanced.” What constitutes “balanced” reporting is determined by the Media Council.

Journalists who write about “national security” issues must disclose their sources.

The news output for all public broadcasters will be produced by a central government agency.

Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt compared the Hungarian press under the new law with Pravda, the central organ of the Soviet Communist Party under Stalinist rule. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg expressed fears over the “complete muzzling of the media.” Bernard Odehnal, a journalist, author and expert on Eastern Europe, warned against the abolition of democracy.

The muzzling of the Hungarian media casts a revealing light on the events that shook Hungary and Eastern Europe twenty years ago. The fall of the Stalinist regimes was celebrated as a “democratic revolution” and a step towards “freedom.” But twenty years later, similar authoritarian structures have been reestablished, while wide sections of the population live in abject poverty and what were once highly developed systems of education, health care and welfare have disintegrated.

Two decades ago, Fidesz was among the forces shouting loudest about freedom and the abolition of “communism.”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/dec2010/pers-d29.shtml