Vienna Capital Partners, the Austrian private equity investor, which owns the firm that published Hungary’s now defunct Népszabadság daily, seems to be providing such a stark example of corporate greed and irresponsibility that political foes and economic rivals from all across the spectrum are joining together in protest. Hungarian conservative publications, left-centre publications, a newspaper in Slovakia and even Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party have issued blistering condemnations following the sudden shuttering of the country’s largest opposition newspaper. There appears to be little doubt in anyone’s mind that Mediaworks, the publisher owned by Vienna Capital Partners, agreed to do the dirty work for business interests affiliated with the ruling Fidesz party, when with no warning it unceremoniously pulled the plug on the nation’s largest daily newspaper and erased its website.
The most touching gesture of solidarity with Népszabadság came from neighbouring Slovakia. A Slovak daily newspaper, Denník N, published a blank cover page Monday morning, bearing only the Hungarian-language headline: “We are with you, Népszabadság! Denník N’s article, written by Peter Morvay, indicates in no uncertain terms that “Népszabadság is a victim of government revenge.” It then mentions Népszabadság as Hungary’s “most important daily, ” and adds that the paper’s last issue published a cover story on Fidesz corruption and that another such story was forthcoming.
The cover page of Slovakia’s Denník N on Monday.
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, also spoke up, and addressed Hungarian citizens directly. Mr. Schulz took to Twitter in Hungarian, writing: “Népszabadság’s sudden shuttering sets a disturbing precedent. I express my solidarity with the Hungarians protesting in Kossuth Square.”
In Hungary, every major publication, except for the ruling party’s de facto central organ, Magyar Idők, expressed its solidarity with Népszabadság. István Dévényi of Heti Válasz, a conservative weekly, wrote: “Népszabadság’s shuttering was not a market-driven decision, because there is no market here. Or more appropriately: We no longer even have a market.” The columnist, who edits the weekly’s website, was implicitly referring to the fact that since everything is dependent on the whims and desires of the interventionist and authoritarian ruling party, there is no longer a free market to speak of in Hungary. Mr. Dévényi then added:
“Which country are we living in? The opposition paper publishes a series on the embarrassing trips of the Minister of Propaganda. The Minister of Propaganda first lies and then falls silent. In the meantime, the paper prepares to trade owners and according to information, the Prime Minister’s friend is set to take over the publisher. The editorial team is about to be moved to a different office and on Friday the publisher promises the workers a party with pizza, beer and champagne.The next day the paper essentially folds.”
The editors of the conservative Mandiner website also issued a statement in solidarity with Népszabadság. The publication quoted Hungary’s constitution, introduced by Fidesz in 2011, in which it calls (on paper only) for a diverse and free media. “The diversity of the press is important to all of us. Without it, public discourse becomes warped and Hungary’s truly diverse society goes unheard. When diversity is eroded, for whatever reason, Hungarian democracy is abraded too,” write Mandiner’s Gellért Rajcsányi, András Stumpf and other members of the editorial team.
Magyar Nemzet, a conservative daily that has gone through a major transformation in the last 18 months and is now actually quite critical of the Orbán government, issued several scathing critiques of Népszabadság’s demise and has placed the blame right where it belongs: with Fidesz.
“Népszabadság is valuable. It is a brand and it is a nicely edited, independent paper. It is a useful news source on events in Hungary and in the world. It is full of thoughtful and of course provocative articles too….Népszabadság was most certainly not closed as a result of market-based decisions. In the background towers over it politics and the government’s hypersensitivity, which finds it increasingly difficult to tolerate critical voices,” wrote Gábor D. Horváth in Magyar Nemzet.
Of course, what remains of Hungary’s left-centre media protested as well. Népszava, the country’s only remaining left-wing print daily, launched a petition on its website, calling for the resurrection of Népszabadság and press freedom in Hungary. You can sign the petition here, and I would strongly urge HFP’s readers to do so–I already have, and so has one of our regular readers, Stevan Harnad, from Montreal.
“The shuttering of Népszabadság is a red line in the sand that we must not cross. We must not allow for this national treasure to be lost and we must protect press freedom together. It is the responsibility of us all to stop this process. If there will be enough of us and if we are determined, we can stop this travesty”–writes Elza Láposi, Népszava’s publisher and Péter Németh, the paper’s editor-in-chief.
This image greets readers of Népszava.
On Monday, the Democratic Coalition opposition party, led by former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, announced that the shuttering of Népszabadság was the final drop in the bucket. His party, which has four MPs in Parliament, would permanently boycott all parliamentary hearings, committee work and question period from now on. The only exception will be when Fidesz requires a two thirds majority to pass legislation, at which point, of course, DK will vote against the government on critical issues. Mr. Gyurcsány told journalists that his party’s MPs understand that they will lose their income.
“If we don’t take this step, the Democratic Coalition will also become a cog in the wheel of the Regime of National Cooperation,” declared Mr. Gyurcsány, using the term introduced by Fidesz when speaking about the Orbán government.
Meanwhile, Népszabadság’s editorial team is still holding out hope that they might be able to reason with Vienna Capital Partners’ Mediaworks company. On Monday, the paper’s editor–András Murányi–had a meeting scheduled with the publisher. The firm, however, cancelled the meeting last minute, claiming that one of the negotiators fell ill.
Thus far, the future of Népszabadság looks grim. But Fidesz may have miscalculated this latest assault on democracy.