Hungarian media authority head asked EU delegation not to come again to Hungary?

The head of Hungary’s media authority, András Koltay, has dismissed an article by Hungarian daily Népszava claiming that a delegation of MEPs that recently visisted Budapest had concluded in a report that media independence was being stamped out in the country.

The National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH) head said in a statement that Népszava was professionally obliged to contact him and give him the opportunity to express his point of view before publishing the article, but had failed to live up to “generally recognised professional standards of media ethics”. Koltay said it was ironic that the delegation had sought to promote a free and independent media while selectively leaking parts of its report, resulting in “the unscrupulous distortion of facts”. He accused the delegation of breaching rules for the adoption of reports by selectively releasing them to a section of the media.

Koltay said he could not comment on the content of the report itself because he had not received it. “I trust the material will officially reach us sooner or later,” he said. He said that notwithstanding the “polite tone” of his discussions with the MEPs, “media independence is far too complex to be used as a political axe to grind on the level of slogans”.