Hungary passes media law amendments - worries remain

Hungarian Parliament on Monday passed amendments to the media laws in line with an agreement with the European Commission. However, the technical modifications do not dispell worries about the dominance of the government in controlling the media.

The amendments, put forward by the government, cover regulations on balanced reporting, the registration requirement for media outlets and sanctions applicable to media services based in other countries. The EU Commissoner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes was present during in the Parliament Building in Budapest.

Under the agreement with the EC, on-demand audio-visual services such as blogs will no longer be required to follow the stipulation for "balanced coverage."

On-demand media services and print press outlets will be allowed 60 days to register with the authorities when starting a new service. If a media service provider violates registration rules it can face a fine of up to one million forints (EUR 3,700).

On a further point, restrictions will not apply to media outlets located in another EU member state unless they are set up abroad with the intention to avoid being subject to Hungarian regulations.

The amendments passed remove a ban on causing "direct or indirect offense" to minorities or to majorities.

Although, the new media law fully complied with EU regulations according to the governing parties who passed it in December 2010, it has received widespread criticism both from the affected Hungarian media and the European Union, several members of the EU as well as international institutions for suppressing the freedom of the press in Hungary.

Despite the fact that the governing parties insisted that not a word would be changed in it, in January, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán promised to the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso that the country's new media law would be changed if necessary.

The amendments required by the EU were passed on Monday but worries are not dispelled completely. Hungarian press reports published on Tuesday stress that the European Parliament is to discuss a draft proposal on condemning Hungary for limiting the freedom of the press and Hungarian organizations also plan to demonstrate for press freedom on March 15 the day when Hungary celebrates the 1848 revolution when the number one demand was press freedom.