“I am only more convinced that, at the moment, Hungary cannot be considered a democracy”

As a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education delegation, MEP Irena Joveva took part in a working visit to Budapest, where they were briefed on the current situation in the fields of culture, education and media. Following the mission, Joveva remarked, among other things, that media freedom and academic freedom should be a given in any society. She said that after the visit she was only more convinced that under the current government Hungary cannot be considered a democracy in the full sense of the word.

The Culture and Education Committee will be responsible for the upcoming European Media Freedom Act ­— to which Ms Joveva will contribute as a rapporteur on behalf of her political group Renew Europe —, therefore the mission revolved around the discussions on media freedom, media concentration, pluralism and the workings of propaganda. And of course, there was no avoiding discussions on developments in the field of education, particularly in the light of the teachers’ strikes in Hungary.

During the three intensive mission days, MEPs held conversations with all key stakeholders in these areas. They met, among others, Budapest Deputy Mayor, Anett Bősz, Members of the Hungarian Parliament, the Minister of Culture and Innovation, János Csák, the Minister of Regional Development, Tibor Navracsics, representatives from Hungary’s National Media and Infocommunications Authority, representatives from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, the Hungarian Academy of Science and the Central European University, and figures from the media and civil society, including NGOs dealing with refugees, with whom they discussed in particular the situation of school-age children and young people.

Below you will find a press release by MEP Irena Joveva with a more detailed statement on the current findings of the visit to Budapest, which will be followed by a more detailed analysis and the delegation’s official conclusions in the coming weeks.

Press statement by Irena Joveva MEP after the mission to Hungary (only available in Slovene)