Restart the BBC Hungarian Service

Restriction of media freedom in Hungary has had serious, and still deteriorating, consequences for democratic order in Central Europe. Hungarian Government pressure has forced nearly all significant independent media outlets into closure or pro-government ownership.

Journalists in public media organisations report overt direction of editorial policy, and even of article content, by the Orbán government. Interpretation is frequently presented as fact and outright fabrication is far from unknown.

At the same time the influence of Russian propaganda in the country is growing especially (though not only) in coverage of international affairs. The Hungarian media now follows Moscow's line in describing as 'terrorists' the regular Ukranian armed forces fighting Russian-backed insurgents in Donetsk. The extensive anti-Soros campaign has made use of articles from Putin-allied Russian media.These are reproduced exactly in Hungarian translation without acknowledgement of source.

The OSCE monitoring group report declared that the credibility of the April 2018 election was undermined because 'intimidating and xenophobic rhetoric, [and] media bias…constricted the space for genuine political debate'. In the years that immediately followed the fall of communism Hungary was widely perceived as the regional leader in 'westernisation'. Now it ranks bottom of Freedom House’s Democracy Index for Central Europe. That's bad enough but in 2017 F.H's press freedom audit delcared Hungary's media 'only partly free'. Its score was several points behind Mongolia's. Last year the European Parliament censured Hungary for a "serious deterioration" in the rule of law. The situation has only continued to worsen over subsequent months.

The BBC Hungarian Service (est. 1940) was an information lifeline supplying factually reliable news to Hungary throughout the Cold War era. The service was disbanded in December 2005 on the basis that the post 1989 mandate to support fragile/ fledgling democracy in Central Europe had expired. That judgement now appears excessively optimistic.

A radio service broadcasting objective information to the country from London would make a valuable contribution to regional stability. The BBC maintains limited services to Hungary’s neighbours Serbia and Ukraine. The Serbian Service was restarted only last year. Hungary’s need is no less pressing.

BBC, will you help?

References

OSCE Monitoring Report on 2018 election

https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/hungary/377410?download=true

Freedom House statistics

https://freedomhouse.org/report/nations-transit/nations-transit-2018

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/hungary

This petition has a Hungarian sister website:
https://www.peticiok.com/tamogassuk_a_bbc_magyar_adasanak_ujrainditasat