Eastern approaches

Ex-communist Europe

Hungary off the air

Budapest backwash

Dec 23rd 2011, 12:45 by A.L.B. | BUDAPEST

THE NEWS was not a surprise and nor did it show much Christmas spirit. But it still came as a shock: Klubrádió, the enormously popular liberal talk radio station, has lost its frequency and will have to close by March 2012. The Media Council, all of whose members were nominated by the ruling right-wing Fidesz party after opposition parties boycotted it, and whose chairwoman, Annamária Szalai is a former Fidesz MP, has awarded the frequency to Autórádió, an obscure new company.

András Arató, Klubrádió’s managing director, said he will contest the decision in court, as the station has a moral obligation to its half million listeners and 10,000 financial supporters. Karola Kiricsi, the council’s spokeswoman, refused to explain to journalists the precise criteria under which the decision was taken and reportedly left the press conference after answering three questions. The Council maintains that it is an autonomous body, independent of government, and has assigned the state-owned frequencies in accordance to legal procedures.  

Either way, the decision will fuel the growing international alarm about the government’s relentless centralisation of power, its packing of formerly independent institutions with party allies and will boost rising domestic anger over media freedom. Thousands of protestors gathered outside Hungarian Radio headquarters on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, a group of current and former state television editors are on hunger strike after Zoltán Lomnici, a former chief justice, was airbrushed out of footage shown on state television. The clumsy editing brought back memories, all too familiar to this part of the world, of Soviet manipulation of photographs and history.  

One editor has since been sacked and another reassigned, but the hunger strike continues. The strikers say that the airbrush episode is symptomatic of widespread news manipulation and political pressure from the government. Norbert Fekete, a former editor at the evening news programme told Reuters: “We’d get clear instructions about expectations of any given story, what it must suggest. A recurring theme was the pressure to cast a negative light on previous Socialist governments. In this regime only good things happen.”  

Both the government and the content provider for state news channels strongly deny the claims. The government fully respects the independence of the public media and rejects all allegations of influence, said a spokesman. But not everything is going the government’s way. To the surprise of many, the Constitutional Court threw out several key provisions of the Media Law and drastically curbed the powers of the Media Council, removing its power to scrutinise print and online content for contravening human rights, human dignity and privacy. The law, the court ruled, “unconstitutionally limited freedom of the written press”. The court also strengthened journalists’ protection of sources, saying they may only be forced to divulge them under strict legal procedures.  

The Court also threw out a new law that regulates religious organisations and vetoed provisions of the criminal code that would the allow the chief prosecutor to decide which court would hear a particular trial, allow preliminary detention for five days without charges and allow a suspect to be held for two days without the right to contact a lawyer. Government officials said they will work with the court to find constitutional solutions to the problems. Meanwhile, MPs from LMP, the green-liberal opposition party, newly boosted by flattering coverage in the New York Times have chained themselves to the gates of Parliament to protest about the parlous state of Hungarian democracy. It may be down, but it’s not certainly not out.

(Picture credit: AFP)

Readers' comments

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Bilboko

The scandal about Klubradio is a mystery for me. It is obviously a fake scandal. It will die out due to the lack of substance, unless they frighten the winner so much that he will give up his frequency. They were already willing to sell it for 200 millions. (Maybe, this is what they are trying.)

Kubradio offered almost the minimum amount, 55 millions. The winner offered 75 millions. That's it.

The radio station is quite a sectarian one. The problem is not that it is biased or political, but that nobody is listening to it. It is not part of mainstream politics. It was founded by an SZDSZ-close consortium and SZDSZ lost the elections with <1%. I believe that much less than 10% of the Hungarian population has political views consistent with the ideas and style of this radio.

The radio sent it a low bid just to provoke the reaction they are not getting. It is, however, counterproductive since this fake scandal undermines the trust of the people in the foreign press and the EU, since they very well can understand the two paragraphs I mentioned.

The best thing in this is the following: what the heck they will do, if they get the frequency and will have 52 listeners. In this case, I suggest to follow the number of listeners.

Teorettik

Какой нужен банк любой стране
В религиозных странах капитализм, но частные банки работают с нулевой рентабельностью. В некоторых последнее время стали кредитовать безвозвратно, но с долей прироста прибыли. Казна страны в руках власти. Система управления населением – насильственная. Системы управления экономикой страны – нет. Результат не фонтан.
Сегодня в цивильных странах за малым исключением – частные банки работают с заоблачной рентабельностью. Казна страны прямо или окольно в руках власти. Система управления населением – денежно-капиталистическая. Системы управления экономикой страны – нет. Результат не фонтан.
Опыт СССР и других псевдосоциалистических стран. Банк государственный с нулевой или даже отрицательной рентабельностью. Система управления населением – насильственная. Система управления экономикой – эрзац – командно-административная. Казна – под властью Результат – плохой – низкая эффективность. При сломе насильственной системы управления населением – гибнут. Противоречие: Банк государственный, а система управления населением насильственная (религиозная) или как сегодня в некоторых странах денежно-капиталистическая (Китай, Германия, Венгрия и другие – пример заразителен).
Самая сложная финансовая система у США. Гибрид частных банков, казначейства, частных печатных станков – все разработано международными финансистами для своих нужд.
Во многих странах появился Центробанк, по сути коммерческий. Независимый от государства – фикс идея воротил. Теперь государство как бы сбоку. Центробанк может «зарабатывать» в своей стране, грабя ее. Противоречие – государство создало банк, который его грабит под защитой Законов.
Итак: ни величина рентабельности, ни название банка и его собственника на эффективность хозяйствования положительного влияния не оказывает. Разница: в религиозных странах ВСЯ прибыль достается власти, в цивильных – львиная доля банкам, малая доля – власти. Неожиданный вывод: все дело во власти – распоряжается ли она казной страны или нет. Во всех странах распоряжается. Этот признак весьма существенен, но его пока никто не замечает.
Существующие системы управления населением архаичны, предопределяют низкую эффективность хозяйствования. Существующие финансовые системы хорошо с ним согласуются. Мало этого, замена финансовой системы на прогрессивную, вынуждает Власть перейти на прогрессивную систему управления населением – денежно-госсекторную. Это проблема остановки эволюции сообщества. Решим ее – двинемся вперед, не решим – все страны будут работать на более развитые и, в конечном счете, на финансовых воротил.
Что же должно быть?
1.Нужно отобрать у власти право распоряжаться казной страны. Это цель политической реформы. Как это сделать?
2.Можно назвать банк сразу Государственным, а лучше Банк госсектора экономики страны (чуть легче тактически, а смыл один), у которого есть весьма существенные политические особенности (отличительные признаки от известных банков)
3.Банк ничей правопреемник – создан на пустом месте, можно даже не национализировать частные банки, что тревожит финансовых воротил больше всего, а просто потеснить их на первых порах;
4.Руководитель Банка получает статус собственника казны страны и бюджета плановых расходов всех хозяйств, работающих на территории государства, на время его работы по найму до потери эффективности его персонального труда;
5.Руководитель Банка получает право исполнять законодательные функции в пределах его компетенции;
6.Это не верно, что Банк будет работать с нулевой рентабельностью, рентабельность будет достигаться его долей прироста прибыли хозяйства страны, вызванного безвозвратным кредитованием Банка;
7.Банк самостоятельный – выведен из состава Правительства и любые указания Власти ему запрещены – он собственник денежно-платежных ресурсов страны, во внутренние дела собственников вход воспрещен (правильная практика сообщества), все системы, структуры и хозяйства страны, связанные с деньгами (кроме таможенной службы – передается ФСБ), при необходимости передачи Банковских хозяйств в госсектор экономики хозяйства не выкупаются, права собственников/совладельцев на получение дивидендов сохраняются при нормальной работе и отсутствии долгов;
8.Цель банка постоянное повышение использования денежно-платежных ресурсов страны и постоянное повышение социальной справедливости;
9.Банк обязан использовать полезные для страны новшества, разработанные сообществом – оплата труда за труд и за эффект от него, переход на более прогрессивные способы хозяйствования, введение оптимальной бюджетной системы страны.

Teorettik in reply to Teorettik

Окончание

10.Постоянно повышать эффективность госсектора экономики и страны в целом.

Что требует эволюция? «Любая собственность должна иметь собственника». Казна во всех странах бесхозна. Что еще? Плавный переход на более прогрессивный способ хозяйствования. Следующий, приход которого тормозят финансовые воротилы и власти большинства стран, – госсекторный. О чем говорит давнишний идеологический кризис, давнишняя предреформенная ситуация, теперешние кризисы? О непринятии мер – капитализм и финансовая система свои возможности исчерпали, нужно переходить на оптимальную финансовую систему, оптимальную систему управления населением и экономикой страны, на прогрессивный способ хозяйствования – госсекторный - предвестник последнего – социалистического.

Zoli B

Klubrádió as independent XD yeah of course..., good joke by the way. So in short there was bidding an this radio lost the bidding and another won so the other will get the frequency. Nothing extraordinary. The economist just degrades itself by publishing such propaganda, oh sorry I've almost forgot, you are independent too XD ...

Zoli B

Klubrádió as independent XD yeah of course..., good joke by the way. So in short there was bidding an this radio lost the bidding and another won so the other will get the frequency. Nothing extraordinary. The economist just degrades itself by publishing such propaganda, oh sorry I've almost forgot, you are independent too XD ...

Wendromer

Klubrádió appealed the decision of the media council in the courts. They also used the maximum time available (15 days to submit the appeal). Maybe they don't want a court decision confirming the ruling of the media council to come out so soon? Anyway Klubrádió's argument was that the 75 million offered by their opponent is "not realistic", however they offered 55 million themselves. So 55 million is perfectly realistic but 75 million is so much that it is unreal. Very interesting math there. They offered no supporting arguments as to why the border between realistic and unreal falls exactly between 55 million and 75 million...

bulgary

This radio is abusing freedom of press. It hosts a moderated forum and quotes from it in the radio programs.

On this forum there are several comments calling for the execution of the democratically elected government (specifically "hang the government on lampposts")

This radio is the loudest when accusing the government beeing against freedom of press.

Think about it. What would your government do in such case? At least the Secret Service had raided the radio in the US for hosting such comments.

Excerpt from one of such comments:

"I said until now: the Orban maffia must be deportated. By now I changed my mind and think they would come back after deportation. Let's hang them on lampposts"

"#1656166 öreglaca | 2011-12-29 17:56

(...)
Eddig amondó voltam, hogy az Orbán-maffiát száműzni kell. Most már nem így gondolom, ha száműzzük, még visszajöhet. Lámpavasra velük!"

Olizefly

The same thing is happening in Poland: TV Trwam, a 10-year-old TV station which is itself quite popular and is currently the only opposition television in Poland has just been denied the right to emit on digital terrestrial television, the only terrestrial television network that will exist in Poland starting 2013. The KRRiT (the television and radio broadcasting authority) who denied TV Trwam a TV frequency is a politicised body nominated by the ruling coalition. Just like in Hungary the KRRiT chose to allocate frequencies to other TV stations of which nobody has yet heard of but which have the advantage of being all of the same kind: very commercial, politically correct and belonging to the big pro-government media groups. Nobody in Europe seems to care about it. Is it because TV Trwam is a conservative catholic television station and the government is liberal and in favour of more European integration? So isn't the fuss about Hungary just because of the opposite situation: a liberal radio closed by a right-wing conservative government? Just wondering...

impartial11

Orban is getting mobbed down by everybody, but it is worth to look for some option because if elections were held today, he would win again. Actually, those cricising him have not even heard about our swiss franc loans, which affect 1/10th of the population, and the balloon monthly payments of which have almost doubled in the last years. If Orban did not win, and he did not offer the people to reconvert these loans, then hundreds of thousands of people would have lost their homes. Ok, now he is getting carried away, but I think this act alone may be bigger news then when a radio station, whose existence we do not really care, has lost a tender.
My democratic friends...

rubber duck

"Klubrádió, the enormously popular liberal talk radio station" - oookay, seeing this it appears to me that the article is not worth reading. Either the author is lying or hasn't got the faintest idea about Hungarian reality.

KundK

1. Klubrádió has lost 1 out of its 11 channels - (up till elections they had 2 channels in the capital.)
just to be precise.

2. pls check out reasons of loosing channel (frequency bidding):

-Klubrádió lost most of its listeners - Listeners: few thousands - and no commercial income- founded by state - taxmoney.
- their depths was covered by the taxpayers a few times,

- Frequency bidding: they have not been able to fulfill the economical prerequisites if the bidding process beside other stipulations of the bidding

- the histeria is a setup - let's wait and see.

3. Could you also pls check your sources as well as the background of the few (today 12 "hungerstrikers" at the headquoter of National TV. As well as could you pls check the background of the "key figures" of Klubrádió. Thank you!

How come that you always come across - University studies: Russia, partymember of communict party etc?

How comes that NONE of the so proud and well established newspapers and magazines who are afraid of the future and wellness of democracy now - has never reported democracy was in danger in the past, any time 1956 and 2010 (with the exception of 8 years) - when Hungary was governed by Horn - who was a traitor himself helping the Russians to kill the revolution in 1956 - and a well received politician and so enlighted PM in the late 90ies ??
Gyurcsany - I doubt that noone realized it in the newsworld that the entire media In Hungary was in the left - that turned out to be less than 25% of the population.
Was it democracy - when Hungarians were not allowed to commemorate !!!!!!! the 50th anniversary of 1956 (the main square was closed for the citizens just few years ago- and police was turned against the people- many people shot and injured.

Unfortunatly - Hungary never managed to get rid of the shadow, the practice, the heritage and the people of communism (or socialism see: “Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English”. George Bernard Shaw)

There are changes and there will be changes - after 66 years - thank good!
Under these changes a small group of political and later money elite is loosing some of its ground - and ohh it hurts - they are not used to be less or of no influence.

The majority of the country -pls note present goverment gained 2/3 of the votes last year - said -it was enough!

We are very sorry if it hurts. However the majority of the country starts to breath freely finally - and this is democracy.

There are mistakes and there will be mistakes - but if the elite click is crying out for its lost privilegiums - pls check on your information and your sources.

My best,

KK

Daniel Prinz in reply to KundK

KundK: your arguments are weak at best.
"1. Klubrádió has lost 1 out of its 11 channels - (up till elections they had 2 channels in the capital.)
just to be precise."
So if up to the elections they had 2 frequencies in the capital, then I am assuming that you are implying that now they have 1? If they now lost it, then they now have 0, right?
Of course they have 11 (actually 13
• Abádszalók 89.2
• Ajka 88.8
• Balatonfüred 91.8
• Budapest 95.3
• Debrecen 93.5
• Esztergom 98.1
• Gyöngyös 88.9
• Kecskemét 97.7
• Keszthely 92.2
• Pápa 92.7
• Tatabánya 96.7
• Tiszafüred 88.7
• Veszprém 90.6) frequencies, because they are all only available in different towns. Is your point that Klubradio will still be available only not in Budapest, or what?

"-Klubrádió lost most of its listeners - Listeners: few thousands - and no commercial income- founded by state - taxmoney."
I am afraid this is simply not true. Depending on where you get the info from, they have between 200 thousand and half a million listeners. I am also assuming that the state wouldn't be funding them under Orban, right?

"- their depths was covered by the taxpayers a few times,"
What does this mean? What is "depths?"

"- Frequency bidding: they have not been able to fulfill the economical prerequisites if the bidding process beside other stipulations of the bidding"
Not sure what this mean. Do you mean that they didn't submit the highest bid, which is true? Or what? We have been over this on this thread: since the government sets the "stipulations," they can set them so that Klubradio cannot satisfy them. I am not saying here that this is what happened, but saying that they didn't fulfill them is not enough. You also would need to argue that they were the right criteria and they were independently set in a way that wasn't biased against Klubradio. They might have been, but saying that Klubradio didn't satisfy some criteria is not enough in itself.

"- the histeria is a setup - let's wait and see."
This could work in some markets, but not here. Some other commenters have said that saying that Autoradio which got the frequency won't be able to pay as much as they are promising is pure speculation. Okay, that might be true. But if in one year they are not able to pay, Klubradio won't be able to come back, because you obviously need to be continuously running to attract listeners etc. We all know that this is a long-term decision about Klubradio's fate not just a one-year-long one.

"3. Could you also pls check your sources as well as the background of the few (today 12 "hungerstrikers" at the headquoter of National TV. As well as could you pls check the background of the "key figures" of Klubrádió. Thank you!"
Not really sure what this means. If this is some other implications that those people are ex-communists, then go check the backgrounds of leading Fideszniks (Schmitt, Stumpf, Hoffmann and whoever else you want). If you are trying to say something else, please elaborate. (Also, since NMHH and you have said that this was an objective tender, the background of these people should hardly matter.) With regard to the hungerstrikers: I don't think Mr Nagy-Navarro or Mr Kembe-Sorel have any interesting "background" at all, but maybe you could tell us more about them.

"How come that you always come across - University studies: Russia, partymember of communict party etc?"
I have been wondering myself why this is the case with some many leading Fidesz politicians: Hoffmann, Schmitt, Pinter, Matolcsy, Martonyi, Stumpf. Would you care to tell us why or is this a poetic question?

"How comes that NONE of the so proud and well established newspapers and magazines who are afraid of the future and wellness of democracy now - has never reported democracy was in danger in the past, any time 1956 and 2010 (with the exception of 8 years) - when Hungary was governed by Horn - who was a traitor himself helping the Russians to kill the revolution in 1956 - and a well received politician and so enlighted PM in the late 90ies ??"
This doesn't make too much sense. First of all, 1956 received a lot of media attention in the West. The Hungarian Revolutionary was elected person of the year by Time, for example. Horn governed Hungary for 4 years (1994-1998), not for 8 years. Also, presumably these newspapers didn't feel that democracy was in danger between 1994 and 1998, because it wasn't? Mr Horn's government was supported by way more voters than Mr Orban's (they had 278 MPs vs 263 Fidesz and KDNP have now) and they did not adopt any laws like Fidesz has in the past 1.5 years. (Mr Horn's past is an entirely different question. That's exactly why I would never vote for him, but that in itself does not in any way put democracy in danger.)

Daniel Prinz in reply to KundK

"Gyurcsany - I doubt that noone realized it in the newsworld that the entire media In Hungary was in the left - that turned out to be less than 25% of the population."
Not sure what this means. Gyurcsany was supported but less than 25% of the population at the end of his reign, that's why MSZP was kicked out. On the other hand, he won by a wide margin in 2006.

"Was it democracy - when Hungarians were not allowed to commemorate !!!!!!! the 50th anniversary of 1956 (the main square was closed for the citizens just few years ago- and police was turned against the people- many people shot and injured."
I am sorry, but I don't know where the "main square" is, although I am also from Budapest, and in what way Hungarians "were not allowed to commemorate." Nobody was shot. (This might be an issue of English, but usually by shooting we mean guns, whereas in 2006 rubberbullets were used.) A lot of people were injured in what was one of the most disgraceful acts of the Gyurcsany-era. On the other hand, none of this has been investigated under Orban.

"Unfortunatly - Hungary never managed to get rid of the shadow, the practice, the heritage and the people of communism (or socialism see: “Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English”. George Bernard Shaw)"
Couldn't agree more here. But this (at least in this particular case) has nothing to do with Klub Radio, but with some of the policies Fidesz is implementing.

"There are changes and there will be changes - after 66 years - thank good!
Under these changes a small group of political and later money elite is loosing some of its ground - and ohh it hurts - they are not used to be less or of no influence."
Not sure what this means. Saying that there have been no changes for 66 years, i.e. since 1945 is a little bit strange, since to just mention one thing, Mr Orban has been prime minister before, between 1998 and 2002. I am not sure that some "money elite" losing ground is what most of us are worried about when it comes to Orban's policies, it's certainly not what I am worried about.

"The majority of the country -pls note present goverment gained 2/3 of the votes last year - said -it was enough!"
True.

"We are very sorry if it hurts. However the majority of the country starts to breath freely finally - and this is democracy."
Not sure what this means. But the majority of the country voted in democratic elections in 1994, 2002 and 2006 for the socialists. That wasn't democracy? I mean, is democracy when Fidesz wins?

"There are mistakes and there will be mistakes - but if the elite click is crying out for its lost privilegiums - pls check on your information and your sources."
Well, these mistakes are exactly what we are discussing. And some of these mistakes are destroying democracy. (One could without hesitation say that "There were mistakes during the socialists, and all criticism of them was Fidesz crying for their lost priveleges." - Does this sound right to you? Not to me.)

szlevi in reply to Daniel Prinz

DP: Yeah, English is definitely a basic issue here - I'm a native Hungarian speaker too and quite often I cannot figure out the broken English these bots are using, just what on Earth they are trying to say...

KundK in reply to szlevi

To Mr Printz,

maybe my arguments are weak.

just to remind you to facts or recent history - you deny - some links with TV footages on the "never happened police attacs and shootings".
I wonder being a Hungarian and having such a solid opinion on happenings here how come you did not know about these events? Or have you been abroad so long that you did not came across these facts? Or being an undergraduate now - you must have been a careless teenager at the time?

Maybe below footages help to explain my point:

we are living in democracy NOW - where freedom of speech and belief is guaranteed to all citizens no one is harassed, kept in fear or is attacked for his/her ideas and opinion.
We lived under a post commie elite money oligarchy oppression - and as the last pools less than a month ago show still the majority of the population who actually lives here believes so.

Good Luck with your studies in the US !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4ykiqsZBpc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUNfzW1Wlos&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ErEwH-d-E&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcCDR3XkL0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EmRhpynj0A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVr5wEp6cSI&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJQ2E0vQ1k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wFj6MesBmg&feature=related

Sorry the interviews are not available in English.

KundK in reply to szlevi

To Mr Printz,

maybe my arguments are weak.

just to remind you to facts or recent history - you deny - some links with TV footages on the "never happened police attacs and shootings".
I wonder being a Hungarian and having such a solid opinion on happenings here how come you did not know about these events? Or have you been abroad so long that you did not came across these facts? Or being an undergraduate now - you must have been a careless teenager at the time?

Maybe below footages help to explain my point:

we are living in democracy NOW - where freedom of speech and belief is guaranteed to all citizens no one is harassed, kept in fear or is attacked for his/her ideas and opinion.
We lived under a post commie elite money oligarchy oppression - and as the last pools less than a month ago show still the majority of the population who actually lives here believes so.

Good Luck with your studies in the US !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4ykiqsZBpc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUNfzW1Wlos&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ErEwH-d-E&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfcCDR3XkL0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EmRhpynj0A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVr5wEp6cSI&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJQ2E0vQ1k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wFj6MesBmg&feature=related

Sorry the interviews are not available in English.

Daniel Prinz in reply to KundK

KundK:

(1) My name is Prinz, not Printz.
(2) When did I deny the police attacks? In fact, I am completely with you on this: I was outraged to see the events of 2006.
(3) How does this bear on what we are arguing about here? The fact that democracy might have been in danger in 2006 does not mean that it is not in danger now. If anything, I would be worried because hardly anything has changed to the better since 2006 and a lot of things have changed to the worse.

I am afraid that the good old "the past eight year" (,,az elmult nyolc ev") argument, used so often by Fidesz inside the Parliament and supporters outside and the "Gyurcsany was worse" argument are not going to work here, considering that I dislike Gyurcsany, MSZP and communists a lot, probably almost as much as you. I have written against them online and in print, feel free to Google my name. To be honest, I was quite supportive of the new Orban cabinet and hoped that they would change it to the better, in fact I spent a summer working for them at Mr Matolcsy's Department of the Treasury. Yet they have completely and utterly messed our country up.

track runner

There have been a lot of talk in the intl. press with titles such as "Hungarian police arrest lawmakers". In this article above this is only referred to as "MPs from LMP, ... have chained themselves to the gates of Parliament to protest". This is because this article was written before most events unfolded regarding that protest. Most news stories written about this, unfortunately omitted key facts, regarding the detainment (and not arrest, a legally different term) of the Hungarian members of Parliament. On such fact is that several lawmakers either advised police to detain them, and actively resigned their immunities so police could do so. Another group of MSZP MPs committed several criminal acts and infractions because they arrived after the protest was done but wanted to get detained for political purposes. Obstruction of justice, stopping a police vehicle by force, resisting police and refusing police orders were just some of the things that they attempted in the hopes that they will get detained. This is known from the statements of MSZP and LMP politicians themselves. You can listen to them saying it, in their own words here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJgUv-p-LM

Hope this helps to get a more complete picture of events.

guest-iiwjeen

In Hungary the public media always had a bias in favor of whoever happens to be in power. I didn't watch the Hungarian channels under the Socialists and I don't watch them now.

guest-iienass

A.L.B. - Who are you???

I wrote your name in the search field and all of your writing against the Hungarian government, against the Hungarian nation.

So, can you write something else or this is your job spport by the liberal party in Hungary?

guest-iienasi

A.L.B. - Who are you???

I wrote your name in the search field and all of your writing against the Hungarian government, against the Hungarian nation.

So, can you write something else or this is your job spport by the liberal party in Hungary?

hear-and-now

Whatever rhetoric the government uses as an excuse for shutting down Klub Rádio, everyone, including the ruling party, knows that the real reason is because it is the station which most vociferously and consistently challenges and questions Fidesz policies.
Amnd as we all know, Fidesz, Orbán and his cronies will not suffer criticism.

guest-iieiwnl in reply to hear-and-now

It may be only a nuance, but probably worth to note, that Klubradio is not forced to be shut down at all.

If they won't be profitable, they shut down themselves.

That's what I was hearing all the time during the years of the commie-libbie mob, when the right (saying) written and electronic media were starving.

szlevi

This whole Klubradio-story is nothing but the latest manifestation of a broken country and its completely disgusting, spineless, looting political elite and their worm-like servants eg the members of this Potemkin-style Media Council, namely Annamária Szalai (chair), János Auer, Tamás Kollarik, András Koltay, Ágnes Vass + Karola Kiricsi, the mouthpiece of MTVA. (I normally don't reand Mancs but yes, I agree, it's important to make these names public so none of the five scumbags will get away with it.)
I wrote this on the FB post of this article but after reading all the death cries vs these mindless Orban-bots/all the BS replies here (sans perhaps D. Prinz, he seems to have a grasp of the core issues) I gotta repost it...

While Orban is clearly an absolutely clueless midget who's running the economy straight into the ground and his clowns are downright despicable and now they are systemically looting the coffers I still don't see: who else the majority of Hungarians could have voted for in 2010...?
The previous 8 years clearly showed the Socialists can only run an old-school Commie-style kleptocracy with its lifelong 'just-a-bit-more' austerity-based economy (always pissing away the gains in election years) and the Free Democrats literally died of their own corruption and protecting their countless hardline ex-Commie friends and snitches to the bitter end...

...seriously, let's face it: the left-liberal side - out of which the so-called left was the liberal and the so-called liberal was anything but liberal when it came to dissent - can only blame themselves and that utter corruption that marked their eight-year rule, that corroded even the very framework of the ~20 years old Hungarian 'democracy'.

Yes, I'm disgusted by this breathtakingly open looting season, this orgy of bunglers, incompetent wannabes, countryside rednecks aka 'Fidesz party officials' who never held any real job in their life and now even their stupid cousins and wives are being moved into key positions - the ruling Orban-led Fidesz, that is. But at the same time I really don't want to see the return of the previous regime, the *other* type of ridiculous incompetency, notorious "Pannon Puma" and similarly retarded ideas and, most importantly, the 50-60 years old ex-Commie scumbags with absolutely no shame whatsoever, their good ol' frat system and their mind-boggling web of pro thieves pulling state stipends for nothing.
And, worst of all, the so-called "democratic West'... do you know who was Orban's role model? Berlusconi, this uber-embarrassing, orange-colored 70+ years old midget who's biggest issue over the past ~15 years as PM of Italy was to prove he can still get his dick up and not afraid to write exemptions for himself into laws(...) if you read the Economist you know the story, I'm sure.

I agree, the EU can put some serious pressure on Orban but I think they do not have a solution either; the stupidest thing would be to force back the same kleptocracy Hungarians were living under for 8 (or rather 20) years... it's over, the ruling elit HAS TO GO.
Or else.

Again: there's no valid option in Hungary as of today... the political system is crumbling and I, for one, hope that it will wash away all the 'old guards', from both sides.
It's time to go, comrades, left and right. Get lost, go home and enjoy your stolen money but never again try to join the discourse again.
With the forever funny words of John McCain (he used to say this here (US) all the time during his failed campaign) "I was reminded of the words of Chairman Mao: ‘It’s always darkest before it gets pitch black.'"
Indeed, indeed.

Abrosz Tisztakosz

Daniel Prinz, you make some valid points, but unfortunately you misunderstood something completely:

"Karola Kiricsi, the NMHH spokesperson has stated that Klub Radio has lost its frequency because the application they submitted achieved the lowest score on the objective criteria."

Objective criteria = money. How much are they willing to pay for the frequency is 100% percent objective. The NMHH has nothing to do with this one, no matter how much you hate them.

"This is incredible cynicism: when the criteria were set, they knew all the information about all radio stations."

This is just stupid to say. How did they know how much Klubrádió's offer will be? Did they have a crystal ball? Did they force Klubrádió to offer 55 million near the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM, 53 million, under which you are disqualified from even being considered?

"They knew very well what criteria they needed to set for Klub Radio to not even stand a chance."

Not only did Klubrádió had a chance, they lost by a single point. It is stupid to say they "didn't stand a chance" when they lose by a single point, even though they offered near the absolute minimum in terms of money.

What has happened here is now clear : Klubrádió tried to get this frequency on the cheap, trusting that the competition will be weak so they can get away with offering near the minimum amount in payment. They were almost right though, they miscalculated in the end, and lost by a single point.

If they offer a fair amount (not near the minumum) they would have won easily.

Finally you can review the points that Klubrádió got in the Hungarian press, from a source that left wingers can safely trust:
http://www.nepszava.hu/articles/article.php?id=504222&referer_id=toplist...

They had the lowest score for monetary offer (first coulumn), and the highest for broadcast plan, etc.

Klubrádió got the maximum amount of points that was possible based on their offer. If they intend to fight this in court the only way is to discredit and attack the winner. If they could only get rid of the winner somehow, the frequency goes to them as the second place. What they can't really do is they simply can't make their own offer look better now. For that they should have offered more money.

Then they could have said "look I am offering all this money and they still won't give the frequency to me". But what can they really say now? "I offered near the absolute minimum and they still won't give the frequency to me, rather they give it to someone who offered to pay a lot more for it?"

Cmon now.

order of mh in reply to oldboy75

Oldboy, it is very interesting what you say about that other frequency of Klubrádió. Because I also remembered some things, but wasn't really sure, I read up on this previous frequency won by Klubrádió. This is one of the biggest political corruption cases I have seen. According to contemporary news articles:

Two MSZP and one SZDSZ delagate voted for Klubrádió to win 92.9 (and not 92.3) frequency in Budapest on 2010 April 21.

http://www.origo.hu/itthon/20100421-klubradionak-adta-az-ortt-az-utolso-...

This was after Fidesz won a landslide election on April 11. So not only these ORTT members knew that they lost their ORTT majority(tied to election results), the SZDSZ delegate knew that his party didn't even enter Parliament and thus he will soon be no more entitled to an ORTT seat than the author of Eastern Approaches. Not only that, they tabled the decision for a time when one of the five delegates, Tamás Tirts was abroad in China, on official ORTT business. So during this time when the MSZP-SZDSZ ORTT members knew the voters just booted them, what did they decide in this situation?

-They awarded the frequency to Klubrádió even though Klubrádió had another frequency already (laws prevent radio stations from having multiple frequencies in the same area). Thus KR recieved the second one as present.
- They awarded the frequency for twelve years (so in their very last days in office they wanted to make decisions lasting for three election cycles)
-Not only did they give KR the frequency they decreased the price to ... ZERO FORINTS! That's right MSZP-SZDSZ wanted to give a free frequency for twelve years to the MSZP-SZDSZ propaganda machine, where political coverage and opinions were trusted to such "independent thinkers" as Gábor Kuncze SZDSZ Member of Parliament at the time, formerly the president of SZDSZ...
-They violated their own ORTT rules in the timing of the decision.

As a result the decision was immediately attacked in court and no contract was signed by this ORTT. And in a few weeks, after the formation of the new parliament, the composition of ORTT changed.

We already know that KR was willing to pay AT LEAST 50 million forints per year for frequency. So giving them one for free for twelve years would be essentially the same as theft of 600 million forints from the Hungarian taxpayers, for political gain.

Two more extra sources:
http://www.magyarhirlap.hu/belfold/klubajandek_bolgareknak.html
http://nol.hu/belfold/ujraosztja_a_lapokat_a_radiopiacon_az_ortt_

Emerenz in reply to Abrosz Tisztakosz

Dear Abrosz,

the table you linked in shows that former experience in broadcasting was worth max. 3 points out of 72. The popularity of the radio is not worth a single point. These criteria are not serious, its plain with commons sense, you don't have to be a media expert to tell that.

Abrosz Tisztakosz in reply to Emerenz

"the table you linked in shows that former experience in broadcasting was worth max. 3 points out of 72. The popularity of the radio is not worth a single point. These criteria are not serious, its plain with commons sense, you don't have to be a media expert to tell that."

What you are talking about would not be an auction of the frequency (the person who pays most wins) it would be a corrupt government handout to a pre-determined winner. I have no doubt that if MSZP-SZDSZ had any say in this still, they would have created a criteria which is written for Klubrádió only, making it impossible for any other company to win, regardless how much they pay. Klubrádió seeing such criteria would have simply offered 1-2 million forints instead of 55 as they did here. The net result would have been stealing taxpayer money and handing it over to Klubrádió.

Klubrádió as the table shows could have easily won if it offers a reasonable amount of money OR it promises to broadcast like 1 more hour of music per day. They didn't because they assumed that offering much less can 1) Still win them the tender. 2) Maybe not winning is better, politically?

If they make an extremely weak offer? They can either win the frequency with the best possible conditions OR they can complain about losing the frequency. This latter solution has the added benefit of not having to actually absorb the losses that Klubrádió makes every year...

Also the tender critera were known for like half a year now. How come you only start complaining about them now? If Klubrádió makes a serious offer and wins, the criteria would have been regarded as pretty cool, right?

FFScotland

Agree with Daniel Prinz. Orban's Hungary is heading in the direction of Putin's Russia. But without the gas.

It's a shame. Hungary can do better than this.

About Eastern approaches

Eastern approaches deals with the economic, political, security and cultural aspects of the eastern half of the European continent. It incorporates the long-running "Europe.view" weekly column. The blog is named after the wartime memoirs of the British soldier Sir Fitzroy Maclean.

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