The level of press freedom in Hungary is among the worst in the European Union, according to the World Press Freedom Index. In such a country, political publications edited by foundations could be the last bastion of the free press.
However, the situation is similarly disappointing in the realm of these publications in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has managed to dominate this sector of the public arena as well, leaving publications edited by opposition or independent foundations almost nonexistent. We highlight what this means for political professionals, academics, and activists who come across such publications in Hungary and to approach them with apprehension.
Political publications as government propaganda
The governing party, Fidesz, has a long history of creating and operating foundations that contributed to the right’s ideological work with quality publications, both online and in print. However, after Viktor Orbán took power with a two-thirds majority, he gradually started to curb the independence of these foundations and the communities around them. While publications like Századvég and Kommentár once had a significant impact on Fidesz’s ideology, today they are tightly controlled by Viktor Orbán’s circle.
Századvég Foundation, which is behind Századvég Journal, while making its right-wing views clear, functioned more like a broadly right-wing journal, allowing leftist and liberal analysts and thinkers to publish on its pages. Gradually, Viktor Orbán and his circle took over the journal, and in the run-up to the 2010 elections, one of its main topics was how the current government failed to deliver on its promises. Today, it’s enough to look at the foundation’s homepage to see how it functions more like propaganda, attacking NGOs like Human Rights Watch that are critical of the government, while its journal has fallen into irrelevance. The other right-wing journal, Kommentár, publishes government propaganda in paper form. Its main article currently is titled ‘Can the European Empire-building be Stopped?!’, claiming that ‘Brussels’ (a favored term of the government) is building an empire.
Another good example is the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA). It was founded in 2018 by individuals close to Viktor Orbán and has become the center of government propaganda. It now consists of more than 400 publications, as almost every businessperson who owned pro-government media ‘gifted’ them to KESMA. Origo.hu, which was once one of Hungary’s largest independent news sites that exposed government corruption, such as the high hotel bills of Viktor Orbán’s most important minister, is now the most hateful propaganda site of the government under KESMA (and even before for a while). Today, it publishes Russian propaganda related to the war in Ukraine, continuously attacks Zelenskyy and Ukraine, and clearly supports Vladimir Putin. Hit pieces about opposition politicians also frequently appear on Origo. County-level newspapers, which were once platforms for discussing local issues, are attacking Fidesz’s political opponents, praising the economy, and publish Orbán interviews without any hard questions. Many times, they do it simultaneously, even with the same title.
Opposition parties largely abandoned their publications
Opposition parties in Hungary face a significant financial disadvantage compared to the governing party. As a result, they rarely invest in long-term projects, including political publications. There are two notable exceptions, but both are in the past.
MSZP, a party that governed Hungary before Viktor Orbán, had a stake in the most popular daily newspaper through a foundation but sold it in 2015. One year later, the newspaper shut down due to government pressure. While Népszabadság was leftist, it maintained its editorial independence and criticized MSZP when necessary.
Jobbik, a once-strong far-right party, successfully built a small media empire from the ground up, even creating a semi-popular YouTube news channel (N1TV). However, financial hardships due to a substantial fine by the state led them to abandon this project. Its newspaper started as a weekly print magazine (Barikád) and then transitioned into Alfahir.hu, an online site. These publications were more explicit about their political affiliation, aided by the fact that the Hungarian far-right was a strong cultural force even beyond Jobbik.
Looking back from today, it is clear that 2010 was a turning point: right-wing political publications began to turn into propaganda, while opposition publications either adapted to this trend or were abandoned by their respective parties due to a lack of resources.
Foreign-funded foundations could be the only beacon of light
There is still hope for meaningful discourse through journals in Hungary: the oldest political foundation in Germany, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung regularly publishes in Hungarian, and even has its own branch in Hungary.
Some Hungarian think tanks also continue to produce meaningful work, though more sporadically, and they also largely depend on the financial support of German and other foundations across Europe. So the verdict is clear: inter-Hungarian foundation publications became propaganda, or have been shut down partly due to government pressure. However, the real information on and about Hungary from political foundations occurs more widely from foreign foundations, especially with the help of German foundations.
