“The right to the non-manipulated information” – debate on the Hungarian media law in Strasbourg

"Madam Commissioner, Minister!

Today, as we have just heard, there has been reached an agreement by the Hungarian Government and the Commission. This agreement implies specific wording contrary to what other people may be implying here this afternoon.

Now, as far as I am concerned, this media law has been used as an excuse for an attack on the Hungarian Government.

Your proposed motion for resolution brings to book for the freedom of information in our law, while your own proposal is based on factual mistakes. I consider this being very misleading for whole debate. The rights to information, Colleagues, that is what matters to me. We want to make sure that we have access to real information, not manipulated information. Unfortunately, you today breached this principle.

It seems to me that you only stand up for the freedom of expression or the freedom of information when you can use that principle to attack right-wing governments. Unfortunately, it remains a fact that nobody from the rows of the socialists or the liberals was particularly concerned about the human rights back in 2006 when under the Hungarian socialist government human rights were being trampled all over or when the Slovak socialist government punished the use of minority languages. At that time you did everything that you could in order not to have a debate at all about these serious human rights violations here, in the European Parliament. This is double standard and I find it very disturbing indeed.

On the apropos of the media law you talk about dictatorship, the oppressive majority. As for me, who lived as a child under the Ceasescu dictatorship, this proves that you have rather one sided concept of democracy and the rule of law."