Premier accuses France and Germany of insulting Hungary over media law

HUNGARIAN prime minister Viktor Orban has accused France and Germany of insulting his country over their criticisms of his country’s new media legislation.

The European Commission is investigating it and various bodies have warned that it breaches freedom of speech and principles of a free media.

Under the controversial legislation, a new regulatory body, the NMHH, has the right to impose fines of up to €720,000 for material that is considered offensive.

Headed by a close ally of Premier Orban, it also has the right to inspect documents and force journalists to reveal sources in issues related to national security, prompting a wave of criticism from media watchdogs.

On the day Orban officially took over the helm of the EU’s six-month presidency, members of the European Parliament began a procedure that could see Hungary deprived of its voting rights.

But an unrepentant Orban said he would only change the controversial new media code if other countries changed theirs. He insists it was based on laws in other European countries.

Asked about his reaction to criticism from the EU’s two leading member states, Orban said: “It is an insult,” and added that Germany and France were too hasty in their reaction, having not waited to see the full text of the law.

It was one thing for journalists to write such things, but “between states, the rules are different”, he added.

He was happy that Germany appeared to backtrack on its comments and advised France to do the same and “return to realism”.

Hungary did not criticise French media law, “when governments deal with one another we have to use a different traffic code,” he said, adding that it was not up to France or Germany or the Hungarians to decide if legislation is in line with EU rules.

He said they would accept anything the EU institutions say about the law, but said any change to the anti-discrimination measures was “out of the question”. The new code has been criticised for being too broad in its scope and not defining terms such as hate speech, leaving journalists without precise guidelines.

But, Orban said, the legislation did not threaten freedom of the media.

“Just because Brussels and the European Parliament and your newspapers say so, we will not concede. No element of the act breaches the European norms,” he said, adding, “You come from a different world”.

The Socialists, the second largest group in the European Parliament, asked the civil liberties committee to investigate the new law to see if it breaches the EU Treaties. If it were found to do so Hungary’s right to vote on EU decisions could be suspended.

“We cannot allow Hungary or any other government to drive a coach and horses through the fundamental values of the EU,” said Socialist leader Martin Schulz.

Orban, who won a landslide two-thirds majority in last May’s election, said he was amused by the reaction of the Hungarian media and one newspaper that declared on its front page that the freedom of the press was over.

But he admitted that it was a bad start to the country’s EU presidency.

“Who would want to start like this? I do not write the script. We adopted the law we thought was perfect. It is quite evident no one wants to start the presidency like this. I cannot change it. I will protect our laws.”