Press freedom continues to decline

Introduction

Continued allegiance to Russia

On 18th February 2023, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán’s State of the Nation address included a promise to remain neutral in the Russian war on Ukraine and maintain economic ties with Russia. Orbán has refused to send weapons to Ukraine , and Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó said the country supports China’s 12-point peace plan for the war that was released on 24th February 2023.

On 22nd February 2023, Hungarian officials opposed EU nuclear sanctions on Russia, saying that it would greatly hinder local energy production. Hungary is dependent on certain technology for operational help within its own reactors. Since Hungary’s reactors are made with Russian technology, they rely on fuel solely made by Moscow. No alternative fuel is available as of now.

On 17th March 2023, the International Criminal Court ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin — without Hungary’s support. The country’s refusal to do so meant it effectively vetoed a joint EU statement on the ICC decision, which Bloomberg first reported on 21st March 2023. However, Hungarian politicians, including Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mate Paczolay, were quick to claim the report as “fake news.”

Emergency powers extended

On 21st February 2023, the Hungarian government extended its emergency powers until 29th May 2023. Human rights defenders say the government is using the Russian war on Ukraine as a cover to extend powers. The emergency decree first started during the coronavirus pandemic, lasted until 2022, and greatly expanded the ability to govern by decree and gives the executive branch the ability to override any act of parliament via emergency government decrees. Decrees have been used to manipulate tax refunds before elections, overrule judicial decisions, and restrict teachers’ right to strike, among other things. Another parallel emergency decree lasts until 7th September 2023 that claims a “state of crisis due to mass migration”.

Hungary denied invitation to Summit for Democracy

On 29-30th March 2023 the United States launched a virtual conference entitled - Summit for Democracy - but notably did not invite Hungary or Turkey to the three-day event. Hungary was the only EU country not on U.S. President Biden’s guest list. It was also not invited to the same summit in 2021. U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said the invitation is for countries that are committed to democratic values and would focus on countering authoritarian regimes. Pressman said Hungary fails to meet those standards, especially with its action to extend emergency powers.

“The Hungarian government has recently extended the state of emergency again, so that the various states of emergency have been in place in Hungary for more than 2,547 days, during which time the government can pass laws by decree, bypassing the Hungarian parliament," Pressman said.

A recent report from the U.S. state department released on 20th March 2023 outlined the human rights issues in Hungary. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó responded by accusing the U.S. of interfering with domestic politics.

Discrimination of vulnerable groups: LGBTQI+ and Roma

On 21st March 2023, the EU Parliament voted in favour of joining the EU Commission’s case against Hungary for violating LGBTQI+ rights in its Child Protection Act, an education law which critics say conflates LGBTQI+ members with paedophiles. Nine member states, including Austria, Belgium and Spain, have also asked to join the Commission’s case over the anti-gay laws which were adopted in the summer of 2021, as previously reported on CIVICUS Monitor. Last December, the EU Commission launched legal action against Hungary for infringement of EU laws in its domestic legislation.

On 9th March 2023 Hungary’s Justice Minister Judit Varga put forth a defense in the Court of Justice of the EU to defend the Hungarian Child Protection Act. Hungarian politicians say the act is meant to increase punishments for paedophiles and bans any material seen as promoting homosexuality in schools in order to “ensure the proper upbringing of children,” as Varga has said previously.

The European Court of Human Rights on 30th March 2023 found Hungary discriminated against the right to education for a boy who is Roma, a minority in Hungary that faces regular discrimination. The case concerned a mother who attempted to switch her son from an underperforming school with a majority of Roma students which did not accommodate her son’s hearing impairment to another school. But the non-majority Roma school rejected the boy citing he needed to live within the school district, despite him living five minutes away on public transport. The court fined Hungary 7,000 euros for damages.

Association

NGOs prevented from attending judicial independence conference

The Hungarian Supreme Court rejected Amnesty International Hungary from attending their international conference on 23rd March 2023, citing a lack of space. The conference was about guaranteeing judicial independence, something human rights observers say Hungary lacks. Amnesty said in a statement that the National Judicial Council, the self-governing body of judges, the MABIE, the largest association of judges in Hungary, and other NGOs were also not invited to attend the conference. Amnesty said NGO voices need to be heard since the government is required to submit a court reform package to the EU by the end of March to access EU funds.

Medical community targeted by Hungarian Parliament

On 28th February 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted an amendment that limits the power of the Hungarian Chamber of Doctors (MOK), an organisation that advocates for doctors and helps standardise health practices. The emergency motion also abolished mandatory membership for doctors. The Hungarian Doctors' Trade Union (MOSZ) said in a statement that:

The union also said this move isolates the chamber from engaging in effective dialogue and collaboration with healthcare providers to improve the medical system, even if they have a different view from the government. The parliament’s decision follows a recommendation by the Hungarian Chamber of Doctors to cut the number of on-call centres in the country by over half. Providers also claim the amendment could hinder access to EU funds.

Peaceful Assembly

National teacher strike

On 16th and 17th March 2023, teachers striked to demand higher pay. As previously reported on CIVICUS Monitor, teachers have staged ongoing protests since last autumn, demanding a 45% salary increase across sectors. The Hungarian government officials say EU funds should pay for the raises and until Brussels unlocks more money, Hungary will not raise teacher salaries. The NGO Hungarian Helsinki Committee published a report on 23rd March 2023 detailing teacher rights and how the Hungarian government uses the legal system to punish teachers who ask for more rights. In 2022, the government significantly restricted teachers' right to strike and introduced a decree increasing the “minimum level of service” strikers must provide during a strike, therefore, a refusal to work is now grounds for dismissal.

Opposition parties demand rule of law improvements

Opposition members dismantled the cordons around the Hungarian Prime Minister’s office on 14th March 2023. The police allowed them to take down the fencing, but not to post their list of demands at the office’s entrance. The demands titled: “7 points for the renewal of Hungary” included calls to restore freedom of the press, end the emergency decree, and restore parliamentary independence and free elections. Ákos Hadházy, an independent MP told the press that:

“This cordon is a symbol of the power that has dismantled democracy, it is a symbol of governing by decree. This cordon also protects the propaganda machine that the government uses to divert attention away from fraud”.

Expression

Press freedom continues to decline

Freedom House released its annual Freedom in the World report on 9th March 2023, which documents a decline in freedoms in Southeast and Central Europe, except for Kosovo. Hungary is classified as “partly free” and lost 22 points in its aggregate score from the previous year. The report pointed to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s governance as the source of the decline in freedoms. The report cited:

“The victory of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in Hungary’s April 2022 elections was facilitated by his government’s campaign since 2010 to systematically undermine the independence of the judiciary, opposition groups, the media, and nongovernmental organizations”.

Népszava, a Hungarian news outlet, obtained a leaked report on 16th March 2023 from the European Parliament’s Cultural and Educational Delegation that visited Hungary in November 2022, which concludes civil society and the press in Hungary are not free.

Another annual report, this one by the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, published on 7th March 2023, found Hungary in violation of press freedom for allowing state intelligence to use the spyware Pegasus to surveil at least five journalists, including media owners. Notably, on 20th February 2023, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varge refused to meet with the European Parliament PEGA committee when it visited Budapest, claiming it is “a left-wing funded sham". The committee was established to investigate abuses of the spyware by states, including Greece, Cyprus, and Poland.

Four weekly papers sue the government

By 30th March 2023, four weekly papers had announced they were suing the government over unequal distribution of state advertising in local media. The editors of Élet és Irodalom, Magyar Narancs, Magyar Hang, and Jelen are suing the Hungarian government both at the national and EU level for discrimination when placing ads in government-affiliated media. The papers filed a complaint with the EU Commission’s European Competition Network alleging that the government places a disproportionate number of ads in government-affiliated media.

"One side of the Hungarian press is collapsing, [while] the other side can manage from millions of advertising sums,” said Csaba Lukács, the director of the newspaper Magyar Hang, which initiated the lawsuit. “Taxpayers' money supports one side, while the other is slowly dying of hunger".

Media rights advocates say this government endangers freedom of expression because it is a one-sided strategy, preventing Hungarians from hearing multiple perspectives on political issues.

Whistleblower protections weakened

On 28th February 2023, the Hungarian government submitted a bill to ensure compliance with EU anti-corruption directives in an attempt to unlock the billions of euros in relief money currently withheld by the EU. The bill was also submitted without consulting the Anti-Corruption Working Group, which was established in December 2022 to achieve compliance with EU laws. Critics say the bill does not protect whistleblowers satisfactorily and does not correspond to the EU Directive it was supposed to implement.

Academic freedom at risk in Hungary

A new study by researchers at the University of Oslo was presented to the Culture and Education Committee of the European Parliament on 27th March 2023 that showed the state of academic freedom in Hungary is significantly worse than any other EU member state. The researchers cited the forced relocation of the Central European University's main operations to Vienna, the deliberate elimination of gender studies programs, and the privatisation of the University of Theatre and Film as evidence of academic infringements. In 2020, students at the University of Theatre and Film occupied school buildings to prevent Orbán’s government from infiltrating it, as previously reported by CIVICUS Monitor. In the end, the protests failed and many students planned to transfer. In Hungary, the paper finds, academic freedom is structurally violated because Fidesz, the ruling party, has an iron grip on institutions, preventing institutional autonomy and self-governance. On 6th March 2023, Fidesz MPs rejected an opposition proposal to tighten conflict of interest rules in the boards of trustees at university foundations.

Court rules in favour of news outlet to access non-classified government documents

On 17th March 2023, the Hungarian Constitutional Court ruled in favour of a Freedom of Information request from the news outlet hvg.hu to reveal 30 government decisions made between 2010 and 2012 that are currently withheld from public knowledge. Hvg.hu launched the lawsuit in 2022 because Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s office refused to release documents that are less than 10 years old, citing that the documents needed to be used for “preparatory material”. The government also tried to make the case that government meetings are not open to the public, which the Court did not accept. The government will most likely appeal the decision.

On an unrelated development, on 29th March 2023, the Hungarian Supreme Court ruled partially in favor of Transparency International Hungary to obtain public data on suspicious Malaysian ventilators bought by the government during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Since the court’s ruling was only partial and sided with the Hungarian Ministry of Economy and Foreign Affairs (KKM) argument, Transparency International will only have access to a portion of the data requested. The NGO wants access to the records because it says the ventilators were purchased for six times the price of the EU average ventilator. And once the purchase was made with 176 billion HUF in public money, the payment was transferred to accounts in Malaysia and Hong Kong, not the Malaysian company’s account. The investigation is part of an ongoing effort by the NGO to keep track of COVID corruption.

Freedom of expression of judges

In March 2023, the Ministerial Committee of Europe issued an interim resolution calling attention to Hungary’s refusal to remedy systemic issues concerning the freedom of expression of Hungarian judges’ opinions. The case concerns former Hungarian Chief Justice András Baka and has been ongoing since 2016. In 2011, Baka publicly criticised Orbán’s party Fidesz for infringing on judicial independence. As a result, the party prematurely stripped Baka of his position and Baka took the state to court. Instead of closing the case, for the past six years, the Hungarian government has remained largely silent and refused to cooperate with the ministerial committee’s requests regarding the excessive length of time. Instead, the court seems to be moving in the opposite direction. In early March, the President of the Hungarian Supreme Court asked the Constitutional Court to repeal the Judges’ Code of Ethics. The ministerial committee says they are monitoring the situation.