Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen correspondent: US vetoes UNSC draft resolution that would have demanded ceasefire in Gaza, lifting of restrictions on aid.
Reports of explosions at Hama military airport in Syria
Shamkhani to Al Mayadeen: There is no mention of lifting sanctions in the latest US proposal, even though this issue is fundamental for Iran
Ali Shamkhani, political advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, to Al Mayadeen: After receiving the American proposal, we are now preparing our new proposal
Shamkhani to Al Mayadeen: Iran will never give up its inherent rights
Iranian Defense Minister to Al Mayadeen: Israeli threats to Iran are just pointless nonsense
Iranian Defense Minister to Al Mayadeen: Those who actually possess the power and ability to threaten Iran do not speak as such; they are simply incapable of doing so
Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh to Al Mayadeen: Iran possesses enough power to render 'Israel' incapable of threatening it
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem after meeting with Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi emphasized the importance of Iran’s positive role in the region and its support for the Palestinian Resistance and its people
Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi after meeting with Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem: Iran is keen to assist Lebanon and stand by its side economically and politically, on the basis of mutual respect

Media freedom "in danger" in Eastern Europe: Survey

  • By Al Mayadeen net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 27 Apr 2022 12:47
4 Min Read

Some of those polled in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, want press freedoms to be better protected.

  • x
  • Survey: Media freedom
    A protest in Slovakia after the murder of a journalist in 2018 (AFP)

According to a study, more than half of respondents in four former communist Eastern European countries think media freedom is threatened, with strong majorities preferring government or EU steps to defend it.

The findings, based on responses from respondents in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, are presented in what is billed as the largest opinion poll on the subject performed in the "Visegrád countries". They will be included in the European Commission's consultation process for a press freedom statute that is currently being drafted.

The law, pushed by the commission's vice-president for values and openness, VÄ›ra Jourová, is intended to protect media plurality and independence in the face of growing worries about ownership and potential government intervention.

In what organizers hope will be a wake-up call, 52% expressed concern about media freedom, with the highest figure, 63%, recorded in Poland, whose rightwing nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) government is accused of aggressively targeting independent media with costly lawsuits while meddling in public broadcasting.

Across the four nations, 71% favored government protection measures, while 59% supported giving the EU broader powers to protect media liberties.

Misha Glenny, a British broadcaster and chair of the Committee for Editorial Independence, which commissioned the study alongside the Czech committee of the International Press Institute, warned the EU against overlooking Poland's transgressions due to its support of the western sanction campaign on Russia, as opposed to Hungary, which has refused to send arms to Ukraine and refused to send weapons or cut energy supplies from Russia.

Read more: Hungary: Paying for Russian gas in rubles does not violate EU sanctions

Related News

Orbán slams Ukraine's EU accession as economic threat to Europe

Hungary to block EU ban on Russian energy, Orban says

“What you’ve seen since Ukraine is that the European Commission and some European Union governments have decided that they are targeting [prime minister Viktor] Orbán and Hungary because of their recalcitrant position and they are giving Poland a free pass on some of the rule of law issues,” he said.

Hungary, where Orban's far-right Fidesz government won a fourth consecutive term last month, had the greatest proportion of respondents – 47% – who believe their country's media is not free. Only 30% thought it was free, compared to 47% in the Czech Republic, which has the greatest level of support for media freedom.

According to Václav ŠtÄ›tka, a media specialist at Loughborough University, support for media freedom among Fidesz supporters is much lower than among other categories.

“Fidesz voters are a completely different tribe,” he said. “30% of them support media owners being in charge of content. That figure isn’t replicated anywhere else.”

Veronika Munk, the director of content at Telex, an independent Hungarian news site founded after a pro-government billionaire took over the outlet where she previously worked, said Hungary's fall in media independence acted as a warning to others.

“Hungary shows how quickly things can change,” she said. “In the Reporters Without Borders index for 2006, Hungary was 10th out of about 160 countries. We are now 92nd."

It is worth noting that Orban has had a tense relationship with the EU, which claim Fidesz has eroded Hungary's democratic institutions.

During campaigning, the opposition's catch-phrase was "Orban or Europe", and yet Orban won. Hungary's opposition believed that Hungary needed to join Poland, the UK, and others in sending aid to Ukraine.  

Orban is well-known for his cordial relationship with Vladimir Putin. He refused to provide Ukraine with arms. He is the only EU leader who has publicly criticized President Zelensky.

  • Hungary
  • Poland
  • Eastern Europe
  • Freedom of Speech
  • Czech Republic
  • Freedom of Press
  • Slovakia

Most Read

Lebanon's PM Nawaf Salam meets with US envoy Morgan Ortagus in Beirut on April 5, 2025 (Dalati Nohra via AP)AP)

Morgan Ortagus to exit US role in Lebanon amid policy shift

  • Politics
  • 1 Jun 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Patrice Lumumba: The national hero of the DR Congo
Politics

Patrice Lumumba: The national hero of the DR Congo

A Palestinian woman mourns as she embraces the body of her daughter Mayar Abu Odeh, 8, who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Gaza. at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP)
Politics

French port workers block arms shipment to 'Israel' amid Gaza genocide

AP
Politics

Shas party backs Knesset dissolution, Netanyahu's coalition at risk

The head of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Nawaf Salam, received a delegation from the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc at the Grand Serail.  (@grandserail)
Politics

Hezbollah bloc, PM Salam discuss reconstruction, national unity

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS