Hungary has blocked 12 Ukrainian media outlets. It is not just a diplomatic incident, but it is a blow to European values and freedom of speech.

In response, Ukraine’s National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting has assessed Budapest’s decision to block several Ukrainian media outlets as a serious violation of the right to information, especially during Russia’s war on Ukraine and hybrid warfare against Europe. 

“The National Council regards this decision as a serious violation of the right to information and a dangerous precedent for the European media space,” the statement reads.

Russian propaganda and Hungary’s role

According to the National Council, this decision undermines citizens’ right to free access to reliable information without Russian propaganda, on which Moscow spends billions of dollars.

The Hungarian authorities called the blocking of Ukrainian media a “mirror response” after Ukraine restricted 15 foreign outlets at the beginning of September. However, these sources, including News Front, Bal-Rad, Demokrata, Origo, Pravda Romania, Flux24, and Sputnik, are spreading Russian disinformation. 

“Journalism and propaganda are not the same”

“Russia’s information war is part of its total war against our statehood, and protecting the information space is a matter of national security,” the Ukrainian regulator stressed.

The National Council recalled that Ukrainska Pravda was founded by journalist Georgii Gongadze, whose murder became a symbol of the fight for freedom of speech, and that Hromadske emerged during the Revolution of Dignity as a civil society project which aimed for Ukraine’s European integration. 

“Blocking their content by an EU member state under far-fetched pretexts raises a fundamental question of whether Europe still has the ability to distinguish journalism from propaganda, protection from censorship, principles from political expediency,” the National Council emphasized.

Ukraine’s regulator is also preparing an appeal to Stephanie Comey, Chair of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities. 

Since 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government’s policy on Ukraine has often favored the Kremlin in the war against Ukraine.

Orbán has repeatedly opposed military aid to Ukraine, blocked EU sanctions against Russia, conducted negotiations with Moscow, and voiced support for a quick peace deal with Moscow that cedes territory to Russia and eliminates Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Last week, Hungarian reconnaissance drones violated Ukrainian airspace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated he knows their exact target and warned that such accidents are dangerous for Budapest itself.