Fidesz: EP debate on media interference ‘smear campaign’ against Hungary

A Fidesz MEP has slammed a debate held in the European Parliament on Wednesday on Hungarian influence in Slovenian and North Macedonian media as a “smear campaign” against Hungary.

The debate was triggered by a report by a Slovenian news site on an alleged intelligence operation involving Hungarian leaders and Slovenian banks and other key figures.

According to the report, the international operation was aimed at gathering intelligence information and support for media platforms linked to North Macedonia’s VMRO-DPMNE party. The alleged goal of the operation was to oust the government of Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in April’s general election and to terminate the Prespa Agreement that saw Macedonia change its name to North Macedonia. The report said

the operation involved Hungarian media outlets linked to Slovenia’s ruling SDS party that were financed by companies with ties to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

In the debate, Fidesz MEP Balázs Hidvéghi said that

under the EU’s principle of the free movement of capital, European businesses had a right to invest wherever they wanted on the bloc’s single market, of which Hungary and Slovenia are both members.

He argued that Sweden could also be criticised for its influence on the Slovenian media scene, noting that the country’s largest business daily, Finance, was owned by Swedish media company Bonnier Business Press.