The European Commission is deeply concerned by the closure of the newspaper Népszabadság, one of the largest opposition daily newspapers in Hungary, spokesperson Margaritis Schinas announced on 10 October.
Two days earlier, Népszabadság journalists were sent a letter informing them of the early closure of the newspaper for economic reasons. The newspaper's owner, the Austrian company Mediaworks, stated that it had racked up €16.4 million in losses since 2007, an explanation that has been widely challenged by both civil society and opposition parties. According to the online newspaper "444.hu", "no rational economic scenario could justify such a brutal decision".
In Brussels, the chair of the S&D Group at the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, described the financial situation of the newspaper as a pure pretext, going on to state that the freedom of the press is in danger in Hungary today. "It is very common in non-democratic systems to close down unsympathetic newspapers that hamper their powers by, for instance, unveiling clear cases of corruption. And that is exactly what has happened to Népszabadság", he told French news agency AFP. Before the referendum in Hungary on the relocation of refugees in the EU, Népszabadság ran a number of articles on scandals involving political figures close to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (see EUROPE 11637).
Schinas stressed that the freedom of the media, pluralism and the protection of journalists are fundamental elements of the free and open society defended by the Commission. His counterpart for digital affairs, Nathalie Vandystadt, went on to stress that the EU has limited competences in the field of the pluralism of the media. She stressed that media freedom and pluralism are protected by the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, but that this charter applies to the member states only when they implement European law. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)