The German right-wing European parliamentary group of representatives issued a strongly worded statement on Monday expressing its conviction that the hysteria surrounding the Hungarian media law was created by an international left-wing communist conspiracy.  

The EU politicians of the CDU-CSU also talk about "treason", but in this case it does not mean treason against the state but against Europe. In their view the western left-wing's criticism of Orbán risks hampering the Hungarian EU presidency in the fulfilment of its responsibilities, ergo the left-wing is harming the whole of Europe when it casts aspersions upon the democratic commitment of the next revolving president.

In the meantime the prime minister of Hungary stated: if the EU can find anything in the media law that violates common principles, the Hungarian parliament will amend any such point. At the same time Viktor Orbán's declaration is not such a big promise since although the meaning of some of the stipulations of the law are questionable, the overwhelming majority of the paragraphs in the act are highly likely to be formally in accord with European expectations. For example, on paper the Media Council, which has clearly been invested with significant power, has moved away from the practices of the former ORTT (National Radio and Television Body) since the commissions of the previous members of the media authority became void when the faction that had nominated them lost power in parliament, and therefore their political affiliations could be ascertained.  

The members of the present council are selected by the Parliament (with a two-third vote); moreover, they are unaccountable and cannot be recalled from their positions, i.e. they enjoy complete autonomy. It is not possible that Brussels could find anything objectionable in this and it can hardly condemn a country for all the council members having had affiliations with Fidesz. 

Yet if all the signs point to the Media Council being independent, this will discredit western criticism including accusations such as limiting the freedom of the press or giving advantages to those affiliated with Fidesz (which is true, but the appointment of Kálmán Rákay to the post of M1's (Hungarian state TV channel) intendant or the personal ties of leaders of the public media to Fidesz do not constitute legal matters).

The Hungarian state is in no way obliged to maintain more public service media. Interestingly, so far nobody questioned why the same news was broadcast on Petőfi and Kossuth radio stations.

The fact that state support for the public service media is paid to the Programme Service Support and Trust Fund, which is a body of the Media Council, is again not a violation of rules, especially since the present four separate limited companies (MTV, MR, MTI, Duna) will eventually be merged into one company as a result of the public service integration process. 

This change is scarcely cause for concern: as Nick Thorpe, the BBC's correspondent for Central Europe based in Hungary, said in response to our enquiry: the domestic section of the British public media is also housed in one building and works as a joint company in London, albeit with separate editorial departments. According to the correspondent, the hysterical reaction from foreigners is merely a testament to their ignorance, although he added: the new law has created uncertainty in the Hungarian public media and several of its elements are indeed problematic.

This viewpoint is shared by András Oplatka, who, in response to our enquiries, said: in itself the role of the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) would not have aroused such passions but the power entrusted to the Media Council, its lack of political diversity as well the expansion of the scope of the media law to the printed press and the Internet provided sufficient basis for the hysteria demonstrated by the western media. 

According to the former correspondent for Neue Zürcher Zeitung, who now resides in Switzerland, this was all a mistake on the part of the government. The Hungarian cabinet must have been well aware that it was granted none of the tolerance usually accorded to newcomers in the German language press, he added. Oplatka cites an example from his own newspaper, which published György Konrad's article immediately after the election stating that anybody who disagreed with the leader of Fidesz now had reason to fear for their lives.