(Adnkronos) – “Every Hungarian deserves a public service that tells the truth.” With these words, the elected prime minister Péter Magyar announced his intention to temporarily suspend, once in office, the news broadcasts of state media, defined as a “propaganda machine.”
Speaking the day after the electoral victory, the Tisza leader accused public media of having “spread fear and lies” to favor challenger Viktor Orbán, using methods comparable to those “of Pyongyang and Nazi Germany.” Magyar explained that his government will introduce a new press law and an independent authority with the aim of “restoring public media to their true role.” “We have just witnessed the last days of a propaganda machine. After the formation of the Tisza government, we will suspend the news services of ‘public’ media until their public service character is restored,” he wrote on X.
In recent years, Reporters Without Borders has repeatedly denounced the critical issues of press freedom in Hungary, highlighting how approximately 80% of the media system is controlled by or close to Fidesz, the party of former prime minister Orbán.
