Free speech advocates raise concerns about the agreement between the Council of Europe and the Hungarian government

Budapest – The recent agreement between the Council of Europe and the Hungarian government only affects a limited problematic area of the media regulation and will not prevent further distortions in the public sphere, states the letter of a five human rights and free speech NGOs written to Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General Council of Europe. The document which is also signed by SEENPM emphasizes that the agreement is not in full accordance with the former recommendations of the Council of Europe.

The letter written by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Eötvös Károly Public Policy Institute, the Hungarian Europe Society, the Mértek Média Monitor, and SEENPM highlights that the agreement between the Council of Europe and the Hungarian government can only be considered, as the first step in the process of solving the structural problems in the Hungarian media regulation. In order to achieve media freedom in Hungary further national and international efforts are needed.

The free speech advocates ask the Council of Europe to continue to evaluate the Hungarian media regulation on the basis of its own previous analysis and recommendations as well as to take further steps to solve the long-term structural problems of the media system. See the full letter here.