Post Tagged with: "Hungarian Media"

Constitution Protection Office headquarters in Budapest.

How Hungary’s intelligence agency tried to intimidate a journalist into becoming an informant

A Hungarian journalist, known only as “G,” was heading to work in December 2015. As he approached the offices of his media firm, two men suddenly came up to him and flashed identifications indicating that they were agents of the Constitution Protection Office (Alkotmányvédelmi Hivatal – AH). The internal intelligence agency, which bears an uncomfortable resemblance in name (and apparently […]

by · September 7, 2016 · Focus
Vladimir Putin visits Viktor Orbán in Budapest, but the sizeable Russian flag blocks the view of the Hungarian capital.

Hungarians, conspiracy theories and Budapest’s allegiance to Moscow

Political Capital, one of Hungary’s most prominent think tanks, reminds us this week that 42% of Hungarians believe that it is not the government in Budapest, with its near super majority in parliament, which controls events in the country, but rather some other, shadowy force. Among those who believe this to be true, 30% are convinced that Jews rule the world and […]

by · July 14, 2016 · Focus
Lajos Simicska

Former Fidesz media tycoon to help Jobbik beat Orbán

Lajos Simicska, one of the wealthiest and most influential businessmen in Hungary, has often boasted that he was the one to lift Viktor Orbán–once his close friend and former college roommate–to power. (HFP reported on last year’s stunning and very public falling out between the two men here.) According to a report in the Népszabadság daily, based on sources close to Mr. Simicska, he has now […]

by · July 11, 2016 · Politics
A police officer in Budapest guards the highly controversial Monument to the German Occupation in Liberty Square from Holocaust survivors, descendants and civil activists in 2014. Photo: HFP / Christopher Adam

Hungarian court upholds bizarre law banning media from showing faces of police officers

The Supreme Court of Hungary (also known as the “Kúria”) ruled against an earlier decision by the Constitutional Court, which would have allowed for newspapers, news sites and the media in general to publish photographs depicting Hungarian police officers while on active duty. At the moment, journalists using photographs of officers engaged in police action of any sort must conceal the […]

by · April 27, 2016 · Politics
György Matolcsy. Photo: AFP.

Fidesz expels journalists from Parliament for asking questions on Central Bank corruption scandal

Journalists associated with some of Hungary largest publications, including hvg.hu, index.hu and Népszabadság, were banned for an indefinite period of time from Parliament, after they videotaped Fidesz and Christian Democratic politicians in the hallway, peppering them with questions about one of the worst corruption scandals in recent Hungarian political history. In one of the videos, a completely silent and clearly […]

by · April 26, 2016 · Politics
VS.hu logo.

Corruption and the Hungarian Central Bank–This is how Fidesz destroys Hungary’s independent media

At the heart of the Fidesz party’s ability to stay in power is to detect the vulnerabilities of people and organizations, and then exacerbate these, making Hungarians beholden to the regime. The chaos surrounding a major Hungarian news site called VS.hu and large state subsidies that traveled to the site’s publisher in a secretive and a roundabout way, is indicative […]

by · April 25, 2016 · Politics
Vivien Szalai on the right, pictured in this seflie with close friends Fanni Kaminsly (middle) and Cecília Rogán (left).

All in the family in Orbán’s Hungary

To be the director of a public institute, a high-ranking diplomat (ambassador or consul general), a management-level civil servant, a leader in public broadcasting or in much of Hungary’s private media, you not only frequently have to be clearly loyal to the ruling Fidesz party, but you often need a personal family connection to players in Viktor Orbán’s Prime Minister’s Office. There […]

by · February 9, 2016 · Politics
Péter Tarr, Executive Director of Hír TV. Photo: Balázs Székelyhidi / Magyar Nemzet

Of droids and slaves – Media in the Orbán regime

Hungary’s unseasonably warm, spring-like weather is about to cool off in the next few days, and the political climate is also showing some signs of change, with a growing number of demographic groups cooling to the increasingly insular, arrogant and corrupt Orbán regime. This week, the ruling Fidesz party (it’s really not a ruling party, but rather a ruling clique […]

by · February 7, 2016 · Politics
The leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party, József Tóbiás (middle) with his wife, Tímea Rába.

Ákos Gergely Balogh: Of mothers and daughters, and the villainy of anonymity

Earlier this week, the pro-Fidesz 888.hu news site stooped to a level perhaps never before seen in Hungarian politics (so we’re talking pretty low) and published a series of completely nude, pornographic images of the wife of József Tóbiás, the leader of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). The photos date back to the nineties when Tímea Rába was a model and contestant […]

by · January 27, 2016 · Politics
Mr. Hasulyó (in blue shirt) with film and media mogul Andy Vajna and his wife Timi  (Mr. Vajna has recently purchased channel TV2 in Hungary.)

Hungary manufactures fake news in California

The Orbán government’s misinformation industry is alive and well and reached a new level. Generally, fake news is manufactured in Budapest by well paid professionals at the Hungarian News Agency – MTI. Not anymore–they are also made right here in the United States. Hungarian Minister of State for EU Affairs Mr. Szabolcs Takács recently visited Los Angeles and the M1 […]

by · January 23, 2016 · Politics