BRUSSELS (AP) – An international press freedom group says the European Union has been too lenient in its treatment of media abuses in Hungary and accuses it of economic bias in defending the rights of journalists.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in Tuesday’s report “Balancing Act” that the 28-nation bloc was struggling to match its lofty human rights standards with its day-to-day actions in protecting journalists around the world.
“There are significant challenges that undermine press freedom and new threats are emerging,” the report concluded.
Hungary has come under intense scrutiny since Prime Minister Viktor Orban came to power and professed he wanted to turn Hungary into an “illiberal state” like Russia and China, where press freedoms are also under intense pressure.
Even though EU institutions including its legislature have criticized Orban, firm action has yet to be pushed through.