Hungarian news site banned in Russia

The Hungarian news site 444.hu is the only one from Hungary on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ban list. As of 25 June, Russia has blocked access to 81 European news services, categorised by country on the ministry’s website, with some listed as pan-European media.

Hungarian news site banned in Russia

The ministry’s statement indicates this move is a response to the EU Council’s decision on 17 May to ban “all broadcasting activities” of three Russian media outlets—RIA Novosti, Izvestia Media Information Centre, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta. This EU ban also took effect on 25 June.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, led by Sergey Lavrov, claims these measures target media outlets that “regularly disseminate false information about the course of the special military operation”, 444.hu writes.

The statement emphasises that Russia had repeatedly warned against politically motivated actions against its journalists and unjustified bans on Russian media in the EU, which would not go unanswered. Despite this, Brussels and EU member states have continued to escalate tensions, prompting Moscow to enact these counter-measures, the communiqué writes. The responsibility for these developments, the statement asserts, lies with the EU leadership and the countries supporting this decision. Russia will reconsider its stance if the EU lifts its restrictions on Russian media.

Explanation from the Russian Embassy in Budapest

On the day the ban was announced, 444.hu contacted the Russian Embassy, which now explains the ban on the Hungarian news site on Telegram, using the hashtags #Sajtószabadság (Freedom of the Press), #OroszMédia (Russian Media), #OroszországMagyarország (Russia Hungary).

“The Hungarian source was listed for systematically spreading inaccurate information about the special military operation in Ukraine. The confirmation of this can be found in several publications of 444,” the Telegram entry reads.

The embassy said in the statement that “the Russian side has repeatedly warned the EU leadership that its politically motivated measures will not go unanswered”.

The Russian embassy was therefore quicker to comment on the Russian sanctions affecting the Hungarian news site 444.hu than the Hungarian government. What is more, the latter was the only one to prevent the EU from issuing a joint statement condemning the Russian move on Wednesday.

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Featured image: illustration, depositphotos.com