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OSCE Criticizes Hungary for Closure of Opposition Newspaper

by VOA News

   The closure of Hungary's main opposition newspaper, the left-wing
   Nepszabadsag, is a "huge blow" to the country's media diversity and
   press freedoms, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
   (OSCE) said in a statement Sunday.

   OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja MijatoviÄ of
   Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that it was "hard to believe" the closure
   of Nepszabadsag was solely a business decision.
   MijatoviÄ said the deterioration of media diversity in Hungary was a
   bad example for countries aspiring to join the European Union.
   The Associated Press is reporting that MijatoviÄ told the news agency
   in a phone interview from Vienna that the European Commission "should
   pay greater attention to the issues related to press freedom in
   Hungary."

   Hungary's leading opposition newspaper will be put up for sale, its
   chief editor said Sunday, a day after its owner suspended publication.
   Austrian-owned Mediaworks, the publisher of Nepszabadsag, said Saturday
   that it suspended further editions of the newspaper because of
   "considerable losses."

   Journalists at the paper said they had not received advance notice and
   when they tried to enter the building early Sunday, they found the
   doors locked and the windows blacked out.

   Talks between Mediaworks management and senior editors Sunday did not
   result in any agreement on publishing the paper's Monday edition or
   restarting its online version, editor-in-chief Andras Muranyi told
   reporters outside the newspaper's headquarters in Budapest.

   Regardless of who would be the new owner, Nepszabadsag "should remain
   independent" he said.

   Opposition parties, activists and several staff blamed the abrupt
   suspension on Prime Minister Viktor's Orban's ruling right-wing party
   Fidesz clamping down on media outlets that do not follow the government
   line.

   Since taking power in 2010, Orban has often been accused of trying to
   silence critical voices in the press.

   Critics said the timing of the move was suspicious, coming only days
   after Nepszabadsag raised corruption allegations against two close
   allies of Orban.

   About 2,000 people expressed solidarity with the journalists of
   Nepszabadsagat with a demonstration Saturday in Budapest.