Press freedom in Hungary took a major hit with the formation of the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA) in August 2018.
KESMA was created by loyalists of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Its chairman is a former lawmaker from Orban's party and the other two board members are Orban loyalists, one being his personal lawyer. In a coordinated move over 400 media outlets were donated voluntarily without compensation to KESMA in November 2018. According to the New York Times, these outlets are pro-government and highly supportive of Orban. This massive donation puts most private Hungarian media outlets under the control of a single state-friendly entity. A move of this size is unprecedented in Europe.
There has been a huge increase in pro-government media over past few years. Independently owned Hungarian news outlet Atlatszo reports in 2013 only 31 media outlets in Hungary were government-allied.
As reported by Associated Press, most of the outlets donated were acquired or founded by allies of Orban in the past few years. Some went from being independent outlets to serious government supporters after receiving copious state and government advertising.
Orban has used his power to back the move. According to the Irish Times, Orban has protected KESMA from opposition by signing a decree and declaring the move of "national strategic importance" that serves "the public interest of saving print media."
This move has been a part of a bigger trend of declining of press freedom in Hungary. Oblan put party loyalists in the Constitutional Court, changed the electoral system to favor his party, and put dozens of watchdog institutions such as the judiciary and prosecution service under leadership of his allies. The government has starved independent outlets of state advertising revenue and has encouraged private media companies to censor their content or sell to Orban's allies. Since Orban took office in 2010, press freedom in Hungary has dropped significantly. In 2010, Hungary ranked 23rd in the World Press Freedom Index by Reports Without Borders. In 2019, Hungary ranks 87th.
"Media freedom in Hungary is no more," said Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director of the European Centre for Press & Media Freedom.
Viktor Orban's authoritarian rule is shifting Hungary further and further away from democracy. Although today the country is considered a democracy, it has not always been so. Hungary fell under Soviet communist control after World War II. Hungary remained under communist control for over 40 years. According to We Love Budapest, the Hungarian Republic was proclaimed on October 23rd, 1989. The Berlin Wall fell in November, 1990 and transformed eastern Europe. The Eastern Bloc ended, freeing Hungary and other eastern European countries from communist control. In March of 1990, Hungary held its first democratic general elections. Hungary was able to become a free, democratic, European republic. Hungary joined Nato in 1999 and became a member of the European Union in 2004.
