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's correspondent: Israeli drone strike targets motorcycle in Kawnin, South Lebanon.
Hegseth in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart: Washington will continue to defend its interests vigorously
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: The United States is concerned about China's activities in the South China Sea
Occupied Palestine: Israeli occupation forces demolishe residential homes east of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip
Al Mayadeen correspondent: An Israeli drone attacked the main road in the town of Harouf, South Lebanon.
Lebanese President: Israeli aggression on Blida took place in aftermath of meeting of ceasefire monitoring committee.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asks Commander of Lebanese Army to confront any Israeli incursion into liberated Lebanese territory in the South.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli aircraft launch series of strikes on area of Jarmaq, South Lebanon.
Reuters: Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to restart peace talks in Istanbul.
Al-Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon: Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Blida municipality building two hours after occupying it, and the Lebanese army enters

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

Hungary plans anti-Ukraine bloc with Czechia, Slovakia

Lavrov, Rubio discuss preparations for Putin-Trump summit

“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

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025
Hi-tech holocaust: Microsoft’s role in Gaza genocide

Microsoft's role in world’s first AI-driven genocide, in Gaza, exposed

  • Technology
  • 28 Oct 2025
What Marr evidently didn't seem to understand was that Hedges isn't saying that Western journalists manipulate the truth, but that they systematically amplify Israeli narratives they know are false. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Western journalists know they have a case to answer for their betrayal of Gaza, and it frightens them

  • Opinion
  • 24 Oct 2025
Sheikh Naim Qassem speaks during an interview with Al-Manar TV, October 26, 2025 (Screenshot)

Hezbollah ready to face 'Israel' in case of war: Sheikh Naim Qassem

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
ap
Politics

Hamas calls on int’l community to act against Israeli settlement plan

In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, right, chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (AP)
Economy

Ex-US diplomat says Trump-Xi deal 'tactical retreat', not lasting deal

An unarmed Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, during a test in 2002. (US Air Force)
Politics

JD Vance defends Trump's nuclear test plan as 'crucial for security'

Ultra-Orthodox Jews attend the "million man" protest against military conscription, in occupied al-Quds, October 30, 2025 (AFP)
Politics

Haredi mass rally in al-Quds exposes Zionist regime's growing crisis

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