Wednesday

6th Dec 2023

EU commission's counter-Orban claims unlikely to work, NGO says

  • Viktor Orban (l) is leading a national crusade against immigrants (Photo: premier.gov.pl)

Hungary's grip on the media and its chilling effects against the opposition will likely obstruct efforts by the European Commission to counter the Fidesz-led government's anti-EU rhetoric, says a leading Budapest-based NGO.

"There is a media landscape now where the government has basically 500 media outlets, all the regional newspapers and the whole entire public broadcast media," Marta Pardavi, who co-chairs the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told this website on Thursday (28 February).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Pardavi's comments follow commission statements, also on Thursday, to dispel what the EU-executive says are Hungarian government lies "to paint a dark picture of a secret plot to drive more migration to Europe".

Budapest, under the right-wing leadership of Viktor Orban, has been spearheading a national campaign against the European commission and the EU's broader migration policies.

The government has made a series of bogus claims in a "You too have the right to know what Brussels is planning!" campaign.

It falsely claims the EU wants to impose mandatory resettlement quotas, when in fact it is up to EU states to decide on a voluntary basis how many UN-recognised refugees they want to take.

It also suggests that prepaid debit cards to help refugees in Greece with things like food are traded elsewhere, when in fact the cards cannot be used in other countries.

The commission told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that it intends to get its message out to the Hungarian people through social media and its EU representation on the ground.

"We have a Hungarian translation of the text," noted EU commission spokesperson, Mina Andreeva.

But Pardavi says while the commission's message to counter Orban's propaganda is needed, the impact will be limited.

"The commission, given this media landscape I think, will need to do a little bit more than putting out this statement," she said.

Civil society in Hungary that try to counter Orban's rhetoric are also at risk of hefty fines imposed through a special immigration tax.

Pardavi says the tax law, which has yet to be imposed, is causing a chilling effect on civil society because it targets NGOs that promote migration.

"I think this special immigration tax [was] actually created, not only to stifle freedom of speech on migration, but actually to stifle Hungarian society from a having a real debate on migration," she said.

It means efforts to spread or amplify the commission's message issued on Thursday are rendered all the more risky for Hungarian civil society.

Orban has since 2010 moved to limit the space for opposition, installed government-friendly loyalists in the Constitutional Court, tweaked the electoral system to favour his party, and passed a so-called Stop Soros Act that also makes it a criminal offence to help asylum-seekers.

The same court on Thursday appeared to back the Stop Soros Act, after Amnesty International Hungary denounced it as a violation of free expression.

The court had found that helping people in need should not be covered by the criminal provision of the law - but then left it up to the criminal courts to interpret this provision in practice.

EU says Hungary's anti-Juncker campaign is fake news

The European Commission has branded the latest campaign by the Hungarian government as 'fake news', after Orban's government accused Juncker of pressing ahead with migration proposals that threaten the country's security.

EPP hits threshold to trigger Orban expulsion probe

At least seven national parties from Europe's biggest political alliance, the centre-right European People's Party, want the group's 'enfant terrible', Hungary's nationalist and authoritarian Fidesz kicked out - following Budapest's latest anti-EU campaign.

Orban says 'sorry', EPP says 'not enough'

As the European People's Party braces itself to decide next week whether to expel its Hungarian member, prime minister Viktor Orban says sorry for calling his critics "useful idiots".

Latest News

  1. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  2. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit
  3. Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?
  4. Protecting workers' rights throughout the AI revolution
  5. Russia, the West, and the geopolitical 'touch-move rule'
  6. Afghanistan is a 'forever emergency,' says UN head
  7. EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors
  8. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us