EU takes action against Hungary for refusing Klubradio license

The European Commission has begun an infringement procedure against Hungary for pushing a leading independent radio station critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orban off the air.

Klubradio has been broadcasting online since February after it lost a court appeal to keep its broadcast license, which the Hungarian Media Council had refused to renew. Orban’s media policies have widely been seen as authoritarian; policies to ensure majority Hungarian ownership in the media sector have translated into ownership by Orban’s allies and the stifling of dissent.

The EU has often seemed reluctant to antogonise Orban, but the refusal to renew Klubradio's license, which came over an explicit request to reconsider in February, has finally prompted the European Commission to take action.

In its statement announcing the commencement of action for infringing EU rules, the Commission said it “believes that the decisions of the Hungarian Media Council to refuse renewal of Klubradio’s rights were disproportionate and non-transparent and thus in breach of EU law... The Commission also considers that the Hungarian national media law has been applied in a discriminatory way in this particular case.”

The case was driven by Vera Jourova, the EU’s Commissioner for Values and Transparency, who said the bloc had “warned the Hungarian authorities and asked them to find a solution so that Klubradio could continue broadcasting. They did not act. We now launch an infringement procedure against Hungary for failing to comply with EU telecoms rules.”

Hungarian authorities have two months to respond.

It's been an uphill battle for Klubradio since Orban came to power in 2010, the station given only short-term licenses it said made it difficult to secure advertising, putting the station in a difficult financial position.

Hungary occupies 92nd place in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index. In February, Human Rights Watch wrote that “The shutdown of Klubradio is just the latest example of the Hungarian government’s efforts to silence critical voices and control the media landscape.”