Népszabadság suspension

Hungarian Socialists to approach Austrian authorities concerning Strache affair

STRACHE, Heinz-Christian; ORBÁN Viktor

The opposition Socialists will turn to Austrian authorities to find out about possible “Hungarian aspects of the Strache affair”, Socialist MEP István Ujhelyi told a press conference on Monday.

Referring to recently published video footage, Ujhelyi quoted Heinz-Christian Strache, who resigned his post of Austria’s vice-chancellor at the weekend, as saying that he would “build a media environment similar to that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán”. In the footage, Strache mentioned Austrian businessman Heinrich Pecina as an “investor who bought and prepared every Hungarian paper for Orbán in the past 15 years”, Ujhelyi said.

The Hungarian public has the right to know about “the relationship between Orbán and Pecina”

and about possible “deals” under which Pecina had been able to purchase and shut down national daily Népszabadság (Read more HERE) and “a large part of the (Hungarian) media market”.

Ujhelyi said

he did not trust the Hungarian authorities and would approach their Austrian counterparts.

He insisted that neither the “two-thirds Fidesz machinery” of parliament nor public prosecutor Péter Polt would be willing to launch an investigation. He added that his party was planning joint action with Austria’s Social Democrats.

Concerning remarks by the Austrian interior minister that the timing of the publication of the video suggested “an attempt to weaken (Austria’s) anti-migration policy”, Ujhelyi said that it was rather an indication of “Europe supporters’ efforts against anti-European political movements, applying mafia-like methods and increasingly promoting the interests of Russia”.

Orbán’s son-in-law makes the list of richest Hungarians

Former Socialist MP acquires daily Népszava, Szabadföld, weekly Vasárnapi Hírek

Daily News Hungary

Budapest, December 20 (MTI) – Horizont Handels und Industrie AG, owned by former Socialist MP and party treasurer László Puch and by Dénes Simon, has acquired the daily Népszava as well as weekly Vasárnapi Hírek as part of the former Geomedia papers portfolio, XXI. Század Media, the business publishing Népszava, told MTI on Tuesday.

The new owners intend to preserve the papers’ left-wing profile, the announcement said, saying that left-wing businessmen joined to finance the transaction following the recent shutdown of the opposition daily Nepszabadsag.

The portfolio acquired also includes Szabad Föld, leading the weeklies’ market, and related publications.

The integration of Népszava and Vasárnapi Hírek will continue to create a daily that would attract the readership of Népszabadság too, according to the announcement.

Népszabadság online archive made accessible for free

Budapest, December 13 (MTI) – Publishing company Mediaworks will maintain the online archive of Népszabadság, what had been Hungary’s largest-circulation daily before it was closed down in October, as a free service accessible at nol.hu, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mediaworks said the archive will be preserved because of its significance to Hungarian press history.

 

In a statement on the stock exchange (BET) website on Monday, Mediaworks owner Opimus Group said it had reviewed the option of restarting the left-wing daily but did not see “a rational or economically sound possibility” to do so.

Opimus Press, a subsidiary of the group, acquired 100 percent of Mediaworks Hungary from Vienna Capital Partners, which had just suspended the paper citing financial reasons.

Mediaworks stopped print runs and online publication of Népszabadság on Oct. 8, citing a 74 percent drop in sales over ten years and large losses.

Get the NÉPSZABADSÁG ONLINE ARCHIVE HERE!

Owner says no plans to relaunch Népszabadság

Budapest, December 12 (MTI) – The owner of Mediaworks, Opimus Group, has said it has no plans to relaunch Népszabadság, what had been Hungary’s largest-circulation daily before it was closed down in October.

In a statement on the stock exchange (BET) website on Monday, Opimus said it had reviewed the option of restarting the left-wing daily but did not see “a rational or economically sound possibility” to do so.

Opimus Press, a subsidiary of the group, acquired 100 percent of Mediaworks Hungary from Vienna Capital Partners, which had just suspended the paper citing financial reasons.

Mediaworks stopped print runs and online publication of Népszabadság on Oct. 8, citing a 74 percent drop in sales over ten years and large losses.

Freedom House frowns on Népszabadság sale

Budapest, October 26 (MTI) – The closure and sale of national daily Népszabadság indicates increasing government influence over Hungary’s media, US-based civil rights group Freedom House has said.

Freedom House reacted to reports on Tuesday that the publisher of Népszabadság has been sold to Opimus Press.

“Hungary’s government uses ownership as a political tool to silence critical coverage. The EU and the United States should forcefully condemn this attack on the press,” said Robert Herman, vice president for international programs.

 

Publisher Mediaworks suspended Népszabadság’s publication on October 8, citing dwindling circulation numbers and amassed losses of several billion forints.

Opimus Press buys Népszabadság publisher Mediaworks Hungary

Budapest (MTI) – Opimus Press has acquired 100 percent of Mediaworks Hungary, the publisher of daily Népszabadság, which suspended the paper earlier this month citing financial reasons, the website of the Budapest Stock Exchange showed on Tuesday.

Opimus Group informed its shareholders during the day that its wholly-owned subsidiary had bought Mediaworks Hungary with the approval of the Competition Office.

Mediaworks’ former owner Vienna Capital Partners told MTI in a statement that the company had been sold. The owner has decided to immediately sell Mediaworks because of a high level of interest in the company and because “the temporary suspension of Népszabadság resulted in misleading and malicious rumours (while a complete shutdown of the paper was never a realistic option)”.

Optimus Press has been chosen because “it expressed an intent to seriously examine the possibility” of relaunching Népszabadság, the statement added.

“We truly hope that the new owner will be able to successfully develop Mediaworks Hungary further and resolve the temporary difficulties,” it added.

Mediaworks suspended the printed and online publication of Népszabadság on October 8. It said the reason was that over ten years, sales dropped by 74 percent, or by more than 100,000 copies, and as a result, the paper generated losses of more than 5 billion forints (EUR 16.2m) since 2007.

The Optimus Press is very close to Lőrinc Mészáros, who is already one of the richest men in Hungary, and he always wins state and billionaire tenders from 2010.

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Photo: MTI

US State Department concerned over press freedom in Hungary – UPDATE

Washington, DC (MTI) – The United States Department of State expressed concerns about press freedom in Hungary in a statement released on Thursday local time.

Mark C. Toner, the department’s deputy spokesperson, said in the statement that the US “shares the concerns of global press freedom advocates, international organizations, and Hungarian citizens, over the steady decline of media freedom in Hungary.”

He added that the US was “following closely the reported ban of an independent website from the parliament building on October 19” and the “sudden closure” of Népszabadság, on October 8.

 

The statement noted Népszabadság as having been Hungary’s “largest independent newspaper” and said that “the loss of this paper – regardless of the reason – is a blow to media pluralism in Hungary.”

It added that the US “as a friend and ally”, encourages the Hungarian government “to ensure an open media environment that exposes citizens to a diversity of viewpoints and opinions.”

The statement also urged Hungary to work closely with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and other experts towards this end.

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UPDATE

The foreign ministry rejected the US government’s “completely unfounded criticism” in a statement released on Friday and said none of the freedom rights are under threat in Hungary, including the freedom of the press.

Spokesman Tamás Menczer said people who are concerned about the “gradual decline of media freedom” surely do not have credible information about Hungary. Anybody reading the Hungarian press will see a diversity of opinions being expressed, he added.

The suspension of the operation of Népszabadság was a decision by the owners and “we are eagerly waiting to see whether the US government will have their say in the decisions of media owners”.

2/3 of Hungarians think that the freedom of the press is very limited

The Publicus Institution conducted a survey on the commission of Vasárnapi Hírek between the 11th and 13th of October, in which they analysed people’s attitude towards the freedom of the press and the suspension of Népszabadság. They asked 1000 people in the representative opinion poll. It turned out that the majority of Hungarians question the freedom of the press in the country.

The majority of respondents believe that the press is not independent from the government in Hungary, while 9 out of 10 people believe that this is an important value. 85% of Hungarians heard about the suspension of Népszabadság, but only 1/3 knew that it is now under the influence of an enterprise close to Fidesz. Almost every second respondent read the printed or online form of Népszabadság more or less frequently.

Most respondents think that the reason behind the suspension is that the newspaper criticised the government and the politicians of the governing party, and that Fidesz limits the Hungarian freedom of the press. 2/3 believes that currently Fidesz has the biggest influence on the operation of the media and almost this many think that the governing party has a great influence on the press as a whole. Almost 2/3 of the pollees believe that the freedom of the press is very limited in Hungary, and that public service media broadcasts one-sidedly.

The majority of the respondents believes that the press is not independent from the government in today’s Hungary. On a scale from 1 to 5, the domestic situation of the freedom of the press got 2.7 points, which belongs to the “not free” category. Mostly MSZP voters find that the press is not free, nor independent: the average of the points they gave was 2.1. On the other hand, only Fidesz voters find the press freer: the average of their points is 3.4.

Meanwhile, 9 of 10 respondents (87%) think that the press should be free and independent from the government. All social classes think the same way about this question.

nepszabadsag_2

85% of Hungarians heard about the suspension of Népszabadság, but only 1/3 knew that it is now under the influence of an enterprise close to Fidesz. Almost every second respondent (43%) read the printed or online form of Népszabadság more or less frequently. The printed version was mostly read by MSZP voters, people over 60, and professional classes. The online version was read by MSZP and Jobbik voters, people under 45, and people with a diploma or high school diploma.

Most respondents think that the reason behind the suspension is that the newspaper criticised the government and the politicians of the governing party (29%), and that Fidesz limits the freedom of the press (23%). 2 out of 10 (22%) listed loss-making as a reason.

However, the latter reasoning was only notable among Fidesz voters (37%), the MSZP, Jobbik and indeterminate voters all believe that the main reason behind the suspension is that the paper had a critical approach towards the government, its party, and its members (53%, 35% and 28%). Except for Fidesz voters, every surveyed social class thinks that the second most important reason behind the suspension is the limitation of the freedom of the press (between 22% and 28%).

2/3 believes that it is currently Fidesz that has the biggest influence on the operation of the media, and only 2% believe that it is the left-wing that has. All surveyed social classes think similarly about this matter. The voters for Jobbik and MSZP find Fidesz’s influence the biggest (77% and 72%), while it is the MSZP and Fidesz voters who find MSZP’s influence the biggest (8% and 5%).

Almost this many (59%) think that the governing party has a greater influence on the press as a whole now than at the time of the MSZP governments (16%). MSZP voters are quite sure about this (75% against 20%), but, surprisingly, Fidesz voters think similarly (46% against 25%).

Almost 2/3 of the respondents (59%) believe that the freedom of the press is very limited in Hungary, and that public service media broadcasts one-sidedly. They think similarly in the case of news resources reaching the most people (58%).

The slight majority of Fidesz voters agree and find that the freedom of the press is very limited in the public service media (45% against 43%), while the overwhelming majority of MSZP, Jobbik and indeterminate voters (70%, 69% and 60%) are on this view, as well.

Copy editor: bm

Demonstration held against Népszabadság closure in Brussels

Brussels, October 19 (MTI) – A demonstration was held in protest of the suspension of Hungarian daily Népszabadság’s publication in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

Speakers at the protest said that the paper’s closure had “seriously hurt” the freedom of the Hungarian press. They also lamented that Népszabadság journalists who had often been critical of whatever government was in power would have an increasingly hard time finding jobs.

Katalin Halmai, Népszabadság’s Brussels correspondent, told the demonstrators not to believe everything that had been said about the paper in the media. She said people should not believe that the decision to suspend the paper’s publication was taken for business reasons or that Népszabadság was only making losses.

“It also should not be believed that the decision to close Népszabadság was not a politically-motivated one,” Halmai insisted.

István Ujhelyi, a MEP for the opposition Socialists, was also present at the demonstration.

Photo: MTI/EPA/Olivier Hoslet

Népszabadság suspended for purely business reasons, says Mediaworks’ owner

Budapest (MTI) – The decision to suspend publication of Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag was taken solely for business reasons, the head of Vienna Capital Partners, which owns the broadsheet’s publisher, said in an interview published in Austrian weekly Profil.

“Népszabadság has only made losses for more than ten years. Circulation numbers have dropped drastically because interest in the product gradually declined,” Heinrich Pecina told Profil.

“Népszabadság accounts for about 10 percent of the revenue of [its publisher] Mediaworks, but the costs cut overall profit buy about 40 percent,” he added.

Pecina said Hungarian managers at Mediaworks had handled the situation badly and underestimated the reaction. He dismissed speculation of a political motive for lagging advertising. “The situation with the ads was difficult but by no means so extreme,” he said.

Profil said Pecina had been ready to “gift” the paper to its then co-owner, the Socialist Party, in 2015 but they had rejected his offer.

“That the Socialist Party themselves didn’t have the courage to accept this suddenly-so-important newspaper as a present says it all … Nobody wants this newspaper,” he added.

 

Pecina told Profil that a number of potential buyers both close to the opposition and to the government had made offers for Mediaworks and that he was considering pulling out of the company.

The paper’s editor-in-chief said in a statement that before signs of the paper’s closure became apparent, the publisher had neither attempted to create the conditions for improving its financial operations nor to work out a plan for its revamp. András Murányi said that Népszabadság had been Hungary’s largest circulation daily and the country’s newspaper of record. He added that in the past few years the paper had suffered the smallest print-run decline.

On the subject of the paper’s financial losses, he said that its previous owner, Ringier, had used Népszabadság’s reserves of 2.4 billion forints to spend on its print and distribution acquisitions up to 2004. He added that advertising revenues were a large factor in racked-up losses “barely of around one million euros”.

The owner and management could have come to a responsible decision had they communicated with the paper’s leadership concerning how future operations should be conceived and how much time would be needed to work out a new operating plan. This did not happen, Murányi said in the statement.

In talks on the paper’s finances, the editorship offered to give up a large portion of its October allowances to ensure a continued presence on the market while opening the opportunity to work out the basis of a new form of operations. There was no response to this offer, he added.

Photo: MTI

Lefitst opposition parties stage demonstration in support of press freedom

Budapest, October 16 (MTI) – The opposition LMP, Együtt, and Dialogue for Hungary (PM) parties staged a demonstration in Budapest on Sunday to protest against the recent closure of the daily Népszabadság.

Miklós Hargitai, a journalist with the defunct Népszabadság newspaper, said the paper’s owner had failed to give an explanation for its closure and had not informed the managing director of the impending decision. He noted the paper had written about cases of corruption, and he insisted that governing politicians had not tolerated this. He added that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had not given an interview to Népszabadság, the biggest circulation daily, in a decade. The paper’s closure, he insisted, had been an act of political revenge.

Benedek Jávor, PM’s MEP, said the government wanted to silence civil organisations and Hungary’s independent media, and claimed that it was building a “virtual reality” of its own built on lies. Referring to articles written about sleaze, he singled out the public prosecutor, the national election commission and the constitutional court, saying: “Corruption in Hungary is not a regrettable by-product of government but of the system” of Hungary’s institutions.

Hadházy Ákos

LMP co-leader Ákos Hadházy said corruption was “society’s cancer” and warned that “the patient is close to death”. Legislation needs to be enacted to guarantee the transparency and accountability of politicians, he added.

demonstration-népszabadság

Péter Juhász, Együtt’s deputy leader, said Orbán had entered into a spiral of lies and would have to face reality. He called on opposition supporters to go out in force to events in which the prime minister takes part and boo him.

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Gergely Gulyás, the ruling Fidesz party’s deputy leader, earlier told a news conference that compared with numerous western European countries, Hungary has far greater press diversity and a broader mass media. He said it was unclear who was behind the demonstration of civil organisations and opposition parties on Sunday afternoon in support of press freedom.

Referring to left-leaning Népszabadság newspaper, he said that based on available information it is still thought that the decision to suspend it had been motivated by business considerations and the owners had made it clear that the paper had lost several billion forints. “In this respect, the government has nothing to do with the matter,” he said.

Gulyás insisted that in the wake of Népszabadság’s closure there would be a balanced market of two papers seen as opposition sympathisers and two which are pro-government. “There’s good reason to believe that the former has a larger distribution,” he said.

It is also plain that one of the commercial terrestrial television stations puts out “opinions strongly critical of the government, and it is probably the case that the smaller commercial broadcasters with such views have a larger audience,” the Fidesz politician said.

Further, outlets on the internet sympathetic to the government are in a significant minority both in terms of their number and the size of their readership, he added.

Gulyás alluded to the ninth article of the constitution stating that everyone has the right to free speech. Hungary recognises and protects press freedom and diversity as well as ensuring the conditions for the formation of democratic public opinion and free information, he said.

He said that in a modern democracy, the greatest threat to press freedom came not from laws or government pressure but from media owners. But in Hungary a situation has emerged whereby a diverse range of owners run especially diverse media, and “even coarse utterances are allowed against the government that would be excluded from everyday political life in, say, western European political culture,” Gulyás said.

In Hungary, it is possible to demonstrate for or against press freedom within the bounds of the constitutional framework, he said, adding that at the same time “there are those who now wish to take up the fundamental right to freedom of assembly who, ten years ago . made this impossible.” This goes to show, he said, that Hungary is a democracy where fundamental rights prevail.

Responding to a recent article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comparing Hungary to Belarus, Gulyás said German media were not a patch on Hungary’s in terms of the diversity of opinion.

The Fidesz party said in a statement after the demonstration that, contrary to the assertions of the opposition, the closure of Népszabadság had been a question of its market and financial fitness. The current and former leaders of the opposition Socialist Party “stole the future” of the paper. “Not only were they incompetent to govern the country, but they could not even take care of their own party’s paper,” the statement said.

Fidesz said that during the Socialist governing period, Népszabadság had been left to make a loss, and in 2015 they gave up on the paper and sold it. The new owner made an offer to the Socialist Party for its share in the business, but the opposition party had not been forced to sell, the statement added.

The Jobbik said in a statement that while Fidesz talked about market forces, its media had “absorbed billions of taxpayers’ forints” in return for “milling out dumb government propaganda” and for publishing government ads, rather than sustaining itself on revenues from commercials by private customers.

Photo: MTI

Socialists: Hungarian media developments cause for concern

Daily News Hungary

Brussels (MTI) – Hungarian media developments have been a cause for concern for years, not only in recent weeks, opposition Socialist lawmaker and head of parliament’s budget committee Attila Mesterházy said on Thursday.

“The recent closure of daily Népszabadság was a striking example of the situation concerning freedom of the press in Hungary,” Mesterházy told MTI by phone during a break in the Council of Europe parliamentary general assembly meeting in Strasbourg, where he submitted a proposal to the general assembly for a CoE review of Hungary’s media regulatory environment. The CoE’s entire Socialist group supported the proposal, which means that representatives from 15 countries signed it, he added.

“It is important that such a significant institution as the CoE, which considers media freedom a basic pillar of democratic rights, should assess the situation concerning Hungary’s media in detail,” Mesterházy said.

Government’s regular press briefing – Defence of southern border, new Budapest hospital, constitutional amendment

The government has decided to award 29.4 forints (EUR 96m) of supplementary funding to the interior ministry for the protection of the Serbia-Hungary border, the government office chief said on Thursday. The aim of the government is to convince Hungary’s parliamentary parties that the amendment of the constitution is “indispensable for protecting Hungary’s borders”, János Lázár said. There are no grounds to fear that the European Union will suspend payments to Hungary.

Interior ministry to receive extra financing for defence of southern border

Lázár told a regular government news briefing that the handling of illegal migration on the southern border in the past year and a half had cost over 100 billion forints.

On other topics, Lázár said that at the initiative of Semmelweis University, which is Hungary’s primary medical training centre, a new medical centre for children would be established, among other health-related developments.

On the subject of public administration, Lázár said that in the next 3 years, 250 billion forints would be channelled towards revamping the civil service, and 45 related laws would be amended with the aim of reducing red tape.

Constitutional amendment ‘indispensable’ 

Lázár told a regular government news briefing that the prime minister had consulted on the matter with the leader of the Socialist Party and that he would hold talks next week with the leader of Jobbik.

Lázár said taking into consideration consultations that have already taken place, it was likely that the amendment proposal would have the parliamentary majority required for it to pass. He noted that parliament is scheduled to start debating the proposal next Monday and is expected to vote on it on either the first or the second week of November.

Socialist Party leader Gyula Molnár later said in a statement that he would not meet the prime minister. Molnar confirmed that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had reached out to him to set up a meeting on the amendment proposal.

Molnár said he would be willing to meet Orbán if the prime minister wanted to discuss security policy matters concerning Hungary, the future of the EU or the “restoration” of the rule of law and the freedom of the press in Hungary.

On the topic of next week’s session of the European Council, Lázár said that the political goal of Hungary is to block binding migrant quotas, and that it is expected that the council’s members would confirm their standpoint that the quota can only be voluntary. He noted that on Thursday evening he is set to meet Austrian Chancellery Minister Thomas Drozda in Vienna in advance of the European Council session.

The Hungarian government supports Germany’s efforts to try to curb illegal migration into the EU through the migration deals the bloc has signed with Turkey and certain African countries, Lázár said. But Hungary also believes these agreements are no reason for the EU to give up on protecting its external borders, he added. Lázár also said he thought the EU had so far done “ridiculously little” to protect the external borders.

Lázár also commented on a recent editorial by The New York Times about Hungary’s migrant quota referendum, in which the paper’s editorial board said that “[Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán and other nationalists who are rejecting the liberal values of tolerance and free movement … risk stirring animosities that less than a century ago led the Continent into world war.” The government office chief said it was “obviously crazy” of the NYT “to imply that the Hungarian government is a Nazi government”.

Commenting on recent remarks by certain European politicians who have suggested that the EU should suspend funding for Hungary, Lázár said that the EU’s founding treaty did not allow any way for a member state to be stripped of its rights to cohesion funds. If cohesion funds were to be suspended, Hungary would have to protect its economy, he said. But Lázár insisted that fears of Hungary having its EU funds suspended were unfounded. He added, at the same time, that there was always a possibility that “political decisions” could be made against Hungary, but he insisted that such decisions would penalise the Hungarian people and not the government. Lázár said he would travel to Brussels next Wednesday to clear up the situation around EU funding for Hungary.

Lázár said Hungary was entitled to 8.9 trillion forints (EUR 29.1bn) in EU money in the current budgetary period, adding that tenders have already been called for 6.391 trillion forints, or 71 percent of the funds. The government aims to call tenders for the remaining funds before the year is out, he added.

Asked about the investigation into recent reports of organised criminals obtaining large quantities of SIM cards in Hungary which are believed to have ended up in the hands of terrorists, Lázár said the Constitutional Protection Office was in contact with telecommunications service providers and was examining whether the system of distributing SIMs needed to be changed. The matter will also be on the agenda in next Wednesday’s session of parliament’s national security committee, he added.

Lázár said he had offered to brief the national security committee about Hungarian-American financier George Soros’ influence in central Europe and the methods with which he said Soros attempts to “change” countries and influence policymakers.

Fears over suspension of EU funds ‘unfounded’

János Lázár told a regular government news briefing that he would be travelling to Brussels next Wednesday to clarify the situation.

He said that Hungary had received 8,900 billion forints in the current EU financial period and that 65-70 percent of this funding had been put out to tender. He added that this year, the government’s intention was to tap the entire amount.

Hungary stands in first place among the Visegrad Group of countries when it comes to EU funding amounts, while it is in 6th place in the bloc as a whole, Lázár noted.

New Budapest hospital to be built near Kelenföld station

The government has decided that the capital city’s new south-Buda super-hospital should be built near Kelenföld railway station, the government office chief said. Lázár told that the new facility would have over 1,000 beds. The decision over its location took into consideration the proximity to the M1 and M7 motorways as well as the metro and bus junctions nearby.

The human resources ministry is assessing two plots and talks have already begun with the owners. An 8-10 hectare site will be needed and the building will have total floor space of 100,000 square metres. It will be the government’s most significant health development project in Budapest, Lázár said.

He also said that at the request of the prime minister, the human resources ministry will give junior doctors a fairer wage deal following September’s general pay rise.

Commenting on a new law amendment concerning tax secrecy, he said just as the optional recipient of 1 percent of each taxpayer’s personal income tax is kept a secret, which sport clubs get donations from the corporate tax of companies should also be a tax secret.

Meanwhile, Lázár said Hungary is ready to offer help to Ukraine to address the financing problems associated with mandatory vaccinations. Some residents in western Ukraine have not received the jabs.

In response to a question about the suspension of daily Népszabadság, he said the government had not discussed the issue, since neither the paper’s staff nor the publisher had asked the cabinet for its help. Commenting on speculation that the suspension was political rather than for financial reasons, he said questions should be directed to the publisher.

“We received two-thirds support in 2010 and in 2014 with Népszabadság exercising its blessed activities, so why would it be in our interest to stop them?”

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The will of the government or the party is not decisive in this case; the fate of a paper depends on its subscribers and paying readers. If there is need for the spirit that Népszabadság represented, then it will continue, he said, adding that in any event its employees should be given fair treatment.

In response to a question about press reports claiming that central bank governor György Matolcsy lived in a residence owned by the head of the Hungarian Banking Association Mihály Patai, he said it would be wrong for the government to comment on issues concerning the central bank. He added, however, that the Banking Associaiton should be more careful.

In response to a question about the planned revamp of the third metro line, he said the government considered it a priority issue and the city council should decide whether it is necessary to revamp the carriages only or the stops as well.

“We will finance whatever the capital decides to do.” He voiced hope that Mayor István Tarlős would not draw the conclusion from disputes with various ministries that they wanted to hinder the project.

Photo: MTI

Mediaworks: Népszabadság editor-in-chief cancels meeting on possible sale of paper

Budapest, October 11 (MTI) – The editor-in-chief of daily Népszabadság, whose publication was suspended over the weekend, cancelled a pre-arranged meeting with publisher Mediaworks about a possible sale of the paper to its editorial team, Mediaworks said on Tuesday.

“Mediaworks was sorry to hear that the editor-in-chief of Népszabadság cancelled a meeting he had initiated about a potential acquisition of the paper shortly before it was scheduled to start,” the publisher said in a statement. Mediaworks said the editorial team had not suggested an alternative time for talks.

Mediaworks added that it remains open to talks on Népszabadság’s future. “That is why we hope that representatives of the editorial team will soon sit down for talks once again and… help work out a way to renew the paper,” the publisher added.

The publisher also said that on Tuesday it held talks with the paper’s union representatives and that the parties agreed on a format for continued negotiations.

Nepszabadsag editor-in-chief András Murányi responded by saying that the editorial team was “surprised” by the publisher’s statement. Murányi said he had told Mediaworks on Tuesday that his precondition for entering into talks about buying the paper was that the uncertainty surrounding Népszabadság’s employees would have to be resolved.

He said that when the editorial team made its offer to Mediaworks they were unaware that there was a mortgage on Népszabadság’s trademarks. If talks on a potential acquisition are to start, Mediaworks should disclose how it intends to disencumber these trademarks before selling the paper, Murányi said. He added that later on Tuesday he would send Mediaworks a proposal for resolving the uncertainty surrounding the paper’s employees.

Murányi told reporters on Monday that in light of Népszabadság’s losses, the editorial team had offered to buy the paper for 1 euro.

Mediaworks on Saturday said it had suspended the publication of Népszabadság until it comes up with a new business model. It added that the paper’s circulation had dropped 74 percent while it had racked up more than 5 billion forints (EUR 16.4m) in losses over the last ten years.

On Monday the publisher said it was committed to “candid” negotiations with Népszabadság’s editors about a possible sale of the paper. Mediaworks added that it was committed to conducting the talks in good faith.

Photo: MTI

European Commission ‘aware of’ Népszabadság suspension

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Budapest, October 10 (MTI) – Commenting on a call by an OSCE media advocate to monitor press freedom more closely in Hungary in wake of the suspension of the daily Népszabadság over the weekend, the European Commission’s spokesperson said the body was “aware of and concerned about” the suspension.

Margaritis Schinas told a press briefing on Monday that the commission stood for the values of press freedom and pluralism as the basic values of a free and democratic society.

“Questions have been raised on the suspension and we are, of course, following the situation closely,” he said.

Spokesperson Nathalie Vandystadt added that the commission’s scope was limited in this area but the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom in Florence was reporting regularly to the commission on the situation of press freedom in every member state, including Hungary.

Dunja Mijatovic, media freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on Sunday that “the closure of Hungary’s main opposition newspaper is a huge blow to the country’s media diversity and press freedoms.”

“The European Commission should pay greater attention to the issues related to press freedom in Hungary,” Mijatovic said, adding that the government’s media policies in Hungary set “a bad example for EU candidate countries and those striving for democracy.”

Gyurcsány’s party pulls out of parliament

Budapest, October 10 (MTI) – The leftist Democratic Coalition (DK) has announced it would stay away from parliament in future, but deputies would not return their mandate.

DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány told a press conference on Monday that his party had “no other choice” in light of recent developments.

Among the latter, Gyurcsány mentioned “lies” about the outcome of the recent referendum and the “politically motivated” closure of left-leaning daily Népszabadság. He also mentioned press reports revealing the prime minister’s role in earlier harassment of civil groups.

 

DK’s deputies, however, will attend votes requiring a two-thirds majority, so as not to support the government with their absence, Gyurcsány said. He said that they were aware that their boycott would entail losing their remuneration, but added that deputies would participate in a “technical vote” once a year so that they can keep their mandate.

DK’s representatives would continue fulfilling all their obligations outside parliament, such as keeping contact with voters, he said.

Ruling Fidesz said in a statement that DK had “turned its back on voters”. Gyurcsány and his party “refuse to face the fact that, unlike Brussels and themselves, Hungarian people do not want migrants to be forcefully settled in Hungary”, the statement said.

Fidesz said that DK had opted to “boycott legislation aimed at encoding the will of Hungarian people in the constitution”.

“Just like Brussels, Ferenc Gyurcsány is seeking to force his own will on Hungarian people,” the statement said.

Photo: MTI

Népszabadság editors to negotiate on possible sale of paper with publisher

Budapest (MTI) – Talks on Sunday on publishing Monday’s issue of daily Népszabadság and putting its website content back online failed; however, the sides will negotiate on the possible sale of the paper on Monday, editor-in-chief András Murányi told a few hundred sympathisers and journalists outside of the publisher’s headquarters in Budapest.

The newspaper’s editors made an offer, and the publisher, Mediaworks, agreed with the general concept, but wished to put the agreement in legal terms, until which time the paper will not operate, Murányi said.

“I interpreted this to mean that the decision taken was not a financial one, rather some other type,” he added.

The only thing on which the paper’s management and the publisher can negotiate is ensuring the sale of Népszabadság, Murányi said.

 

Anna Dano, who heads the paper’s work council, said talks with the publisher would continue on Monday.

The paper’s management and the publisher could negotiate on the sale of Népszabadság, he said, adding that a declaration of intent on the sale could be drawn up in days.

Publisher Mediaworks on Saturday said it suspended the publication of daily Népszabadság until it comes up with a new business model.

“In order to preserve Népszabadság for the future, Mediaworks management will focus on finding the best business model for the paper, in line with the current trends in the industry, and will start consultations in order to best secure future development,” the publisher said in a release posted on the daily’s website. The paper’s circulation has dropped 74 percent while it has racked up more than 5 billion forints (EUR 16.4m) in losses over the last ten years, it added.

Mediaworks makes offer to Népszabadság staff

 

Budapest (MTI) – Mediaworks, the publisher of Hungarian daily Népszabadság, said late Saturday that it had made an offer to the paper’s editorial staff.

The sides agreed to start talks with the involvement of the union and the work council, the publisher said.

Mediaworks’ management on Saturday initiated talks on Népszabadság’s suspension and relaunch with editor-in-chief András Murányi to start immediately. The publisher offered to negotiate on the paper’s financing and publication if its editorial staff can bring a strategy and business plan to the table that ensures the profitable operation of the paper in the long term.

Mediaworks noted that the editorial staff had stated they were firmly committed to “staying together to produce only the same independent professional quality they have until now”. The sides will discuss further whether this is possible and in which form, Mediaworks said.

Mediaworks said earlier on Saturday it was suspending publication of the newspaper to focus on shaping a new business model. The paper’s circulation has dropped 74 percent while it has racked up more than 5 billion forints (EUR 16.4m) in losses over the last ten years, Mediaworks noted.