Brussels warns on media freedom in Hungary, Poland, Slovenia

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Brussels, March 10 (AFP/APP):The European Commission on Wednesday warned of “worrying developments” for media freedoms in eastern member states Hungary, Poland and Slovenia as lawmakers in Brussels debated the issue.
“Strong leaders are those that gain respect through their actions, that accept diversity of opinions and that allow citizens to be duly informed, not those that try to silence critical voices,” Commission Vice President Vera Jourova told the European Parliament.
“Unfortunately, in recent months additional worrying developments have happened.”
In Hungary, Jourova pointed to the removal from the airwaves of leading independent radio station Klubradio which had been critical of the populist authoritarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
She highlighted protests in Poland from broadcasters over an advertising tax for non-state outlets that they said would restrict pluralism.
And on Slovenia, Jourova hit out against the government’s “attempts to undermine the sustainable funding and the independence of the national press agency and frequent verbal attacks against journalists”.
“For each of these cases, the Commission has been in contact with the national authorities and continues to monitor the situation,” Jourova said.
“And let me assure you that the Commission will act when there are issues about the compliance of national laws or decisions with EU rules.”
The latest moves feed growing discomfort over the undermining of democratic norms in the three states, where increasingly authoritarian governments have faced accusations including trying to curb the independence of the media and judiciary.
The commission has issued “infringement notices” over breaches to Hungary and Poland, and the European Court of Justice has upheld several complaints. But they have done little to change the political direction of the governments concerned.

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