Hungarian Index journalists withdraw due to dismissal

More than 70 journalists and staff at Hungary’s main news site Index have resigned, accusing the government of launching an attempt to destroy or tame its website.

Index is the last of Hungary’s leading independent media outlets and editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull was fired on Tuesday.

Its journalists said the dismissal was “clear interference” and an attempt to put pressure on the site.

Hours later, protesters gathered in Budapest to demonstrate for media freedom.

Over the past decade, supporters of conservative and nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban have gradually taken control of Hungary’s independent media. Hungary is ranked 89 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index for Reporters Without Borders.

Protesters planned to march on the prime minister’s office.

Last month, Szabolcs Dull had warned that Index was “under so much outside pressure that it could explain the end of our editorial staff as we know it.” In an alarming piece published on June 22, he warned that the website’s editorial staff was “in danger” and that the dial for a “freedom barometer” on the home page was moved to “in danger.”

On Friday, three chief editors and more than 70 people said they were terminating their employment there, because board chairman Laszlo Bodolai had refused to reinstate the chief editor. There were emotional scenes as they left the office.

Bodolai dismissed claims that the website’s independence was at risk, blaming Dull for failing to control tension within the newsroom.

Pro-Orban businessman in the middle of the row

Index’s fears for independence came to a head a few months ago when Miklos Vaszily, a pro-Orban businessman, took a 50% stake in the company that controls Index’s advertising and revenue.

He was already running the pro-government broadcaster TV2 and was seen as a key role in turning another Hungarian website, Origo, into a pro-Orban media outlet.

As the drama unfolded in the Index newsroom on Friday, a photo emerged of Vaszily having lunch with Orban’s key consultant and historian Maria Schmidt.

What does this mean for Hungary and Orban?

Index’s disappearance deprives the Hungarian public of the strongest independent voice in the media.

The staff resigned because they had vowed to remain free of political influence, in a country where much of the media simply awaits orders from the government on what to report and how to report it.

The newsrooms of the public radio, television and state news agency MTI have long given up any claim to impartiality.

Nepszabadsag, the main left-wing newspaper, stopped publishing in 2016, while Origo, another news site, switched to the government in 2014.

Almost all the regional media are part of the Fidesz media empire. Index reporters have formed a Facebook group to try to continue their work.

At first glance, the events in Index seem like yet another victory for Viktor Orban. But the man who rose to fame opposing one-party rule has now re-established one-party rule. By capturing the state (economy, parliament, constitutional court, media) you risk looking ridiculous.

Critics of his government may also be forced to rethink the ways of his opposition. Some advocate for new or merged parties. But there is also a growing clamor to boycott parliament and the 2022 elections, to strip Orban of his latest claim for democratic legitimacy.

Hungary’s continued dispute with the EU

The Fidesz-led government of Orban has repeatedly clashed with the European Union over the rule of law, and the party was suspended by the center-right EPP group in the European Parliament due to its immigration policies.

Last month, the EU’s highest court ruled that Hungary violated European law by restricting foreign funding for civil society organizations.

Earlier this week, Orban said Hungary and Poland had won a “great victory” against EU countries trying to link rule of law guarantees with a new budget and recovery loan and grant package from Covid-19. .

But the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, insisted that the agreement agreed on Monday was “the first time that respect for the rule of law is a decisive criterion for budget spending.”