Brussels, 19/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The face-off had been on the cards, and, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 19 January, the hostilities were opened. As expected, as he was setting out the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had to face a salvo of criticism of the new media law from all sides, with the exception of the EPP which backed Orbán while awaiting the outcome of the European Commission investigation.
The opening round was fired by Commission President José Manuel Barroso who confirmed that the Commission would once again this week seek clarification of the Hungarian government on how the law, transposing the directive on audiovisual services, was to be applied. He remained on more political ground, stating that, apart from the purely legal points of the investigation, the political aspects had to be considered and the support of all member states for the Hungarian Presidency had to be ensured. Some countries, such as France and Germany, have expressed concern over the legislation. Barroso called on Hungary to take this into account so that the six-month term of office of the Hungarian Presidency might be a success.
The direct attacks came logically from those groups which, last week, demanded a resolution on this issue in plenary session - the Liberals (ALDE) and the Greens - and also from the leader of the S&D Group Martin Schulz, who, paradoxically, opposed the above-mentioned resolution but who, nevertheless, boomed his opposition to the law and demanded it be withdrawn. The ALDE Group chose a more subtle approach, with Guy Verhofstadt making reference to the great Hungarian writer and journalist Sándor Márai “who could never have existed under this new law” and whose books would never have been deemed appropriate - a reference to the requirement to provide balanced information on national and European events. Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA) did not shy away from describing Orbán as a “European Chavez”, adding that “three is no such thing as balanced news” and regretting that the 2011 Viktor Orbán was no longer the man “who fought against the Communists and worked for the expulsion of Jörg Haider” (the former populist leader of the Austrian FPÖ). The Greens had come with their demonstration prepared, brandishing copies of one of the censored papers and welcoming Orbán with their mouths gagged.
Orbán, however, was not impressed by the attacks, and he pointed out that his government had always been prepared to conform to any demands from the Commission, even if “we had convincing arguments”. He then went on the attack against “those serious people who spoke to give erroneous information”, for example, on the fines on media outlets which do not broadcast news which is judged to be adequate, he challenges that such a provision exists. It was, however, against what he considered to be attacks on the Hungarian people that Orbán was at his most tough. He said it was “unacceptable that MEPs call Hungarian democracy into doubt” and this was all the more so for the people “who elected us”. He told the MEPs that they must not confuse a debate relating to domestic policy and the debate on the Presidency's programme for the next six months. He said, however, that he was ready to confront this mixture and told MEPs that the success of the Hungarian Presidency “will depend on you too”. (S.P./transl.rt)