World

Hungary is funding European publications. But have they had an impact?

Published

1 year ago

September 16, 2023

Hungary is funding European publications. But have they had an impact?

Viktor Orbán’s government is linked to funding for several right-wing publications in English. But have they had any impact?

In a recent article, Dieter Stein, a right-wing German journalist, wrote that Viktor Orbán was “the only leading politician from the European Christian Democratic family of parties who calls out the Left for the wars they wage on our culture”.

This positive view of Hungary’s prime minister appeared in a magazine that conceals financial support from Orbán’s circle and the Hungarian government.

Printed in Budapest, The European Conservative receives funding from the government through a non-profit, Batthyány Lajos Foundation (BLA), according to a Hungarian watchdog and multiple media reports.

Indeed, BLA, which was founded in 1991, has grown to become an instrument for channelling donations from the Hungarian government.

According to Hungarian watchdog K-Monitor, BLA received 6.2 billion forints (€16.16 million) from the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister in 2022, and a further 9.2bn forints (€23.98m) in January 2023.

These funds, the watchdog says, were channelled towards publications including the European Conservative, NGOs, mentoring programmes and Centre for Fundamental Rights, an organisation responsible for the international conservative event CPAC Hungary – which Stein also reported on in the article cited earlier.

Glossy publication with Orbán’s values

Edited by right-wing journalist Alvino-Mario Fantini, another vocal ally of Orbán’s, the European Conservative is published by the European Conservative Nonprofit Ltd. The nonprofit was established in November 2021, and received 1.65bn forints (€4.3m) from BLA shortly thereafter, Hungarian media revealed.

According to Pavol Szalai, the Head of the EU-Balkans Desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF), this is a good example of the way the Hungarian government sees the media: “as a vehicle of propaganda”.

“Which means there is no such thing as independent media,” he adds, highlighting that Hungary is in the 72nd place on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, among the last three countries from the European Union.

“There is no equivalent of such a sophisticated and wide-ranging and influential system of government-controlled information in the European Union,” Szalai adds.

Online publications supported by BLA

The European Conservative is not the only publication supported by taxpayers’ money.

According to the website of BLA, the foundation is also behind the Hungarian Conservative, and the now-inactive Hungarian Review. Both publications’ staff include John O’Sullivan, the chief of the government-sponsored think tank Danube Institute.

Not listed on the BLA’s website is ReMixNews, a website featuring news and commentary from the V4 countries, published by Budapest-based FWD Affairs LLC. ReMixNews is “funded in part by the Batthany Lajos Foundation in Budapest,” according to their website, with a typo in the spelling of the organisation.

Heavy with ads, ReMixNews boasts extensive coverage on migration, the “liberal elite” and “oligarch George Soros”, phases in line with the Hungarian government’s narrative.

It receives a rather small yearly funding for a media organisation, Márton Sarkadi Nagy, a Hungarian freelance journalist, who has written about the site in detail, says.

According to his article, based on freedom of information requests, the publisher of ReMix received 150m forints (€390,000) from BLA between 2020 and 2023.

“Which is just enough to hire four people – the ones you can see in the impressum. But as far as I’m concerned, RemixNews has never published a single article that was of interest to anyone,” he told Euronews.

Similarly connected to the Hungarian government, but separate from BLA is V4NA, a “young, independent international news agency.”

V4NA was registered in London in 2019, by Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Hungary’s defence minister, during his embassy period in the UK. According to a Hungarian media report, shareholders include Árpád Habony, a long-time unofficial adviser to Viktor Orbán.

Despite the ambitions, V4NA never became a go-to for foreign media outlets. According to journalist Sarkadi Nagy’s findings, most hyperlinks to the site appeared in the Hungarian, Macedonian and Slovenian media. Both countries where adjacents of the Orbán-regime have a significant media presence, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

“If you look at (V4NA), it’s hard to see it as an independent media given it’s a way for the government propaganda machine to show that there is English language news that can be quoted in the Hungarian pro-government press. It’s a way to strengthen domestic propaganda,” Szalai, from RSF, adds.

V4NA operates with relatively large sums according to their filings, yet it’s unclear where that money ends up, Sarkadi Nagy highlights.

“In that sense, it is much more impactful as an international political financial vehicle than a media product, especially in the English-language sphere,” he says.

A lot of money to little effect?

“Despite having access to an abundance of financial resources (these mediums) have limited impact,” Szalai says.

He’s more worried about the implications on the media landscape of the country.

“The independent media of Hungary even has to compete abroad in these unequal conditions with Orbán’s propaganda machine,” he said.

“If they had any impact, it was only because the international media and political sphere had understood them to be the conveyers of the Orbán government’s interests,” Sarkadi Nagy agrees. “Which isn’t too far from reality,” he adds.

Neither ReMixNews nor V4NA gathered a large following on social media, and their posts don’t seem to spark large interest either.

The European Conservative remains niche, available at some larger newsstands.

The editorial team of the Hungarian Conservative, ReMixNews and V4NA as well as the Batthyany Lajos Foundation and the Cabinet of the Hungarian Prime Minister were contacted for comment but have not yet responded to Euronews’ requests.

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World

In Homs, Smiles and Tears Amid a Ravaged Landscape After al-Assad’s Fall

Published

6 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

The ancient city, an early stronghold of opposition to Bashar al-Assad’s oppressive regime, was ravaged by a government crackdown. New York Times correspondents in Homs spoke to people who were reacting to his fall with smiles and tears.

World

Pentagon says the number of US troops in Syria is much higher than previously reported

Published

6 hours ago

December 20, 2024

Press Room

Pentagon says the number of US troops in Syria is much higher than previously reported

The Pentagon says there are 2,000 U.S. troops deployed in Syria, more than double what officials with the Department of Defense have been telling reporters for months.

“We have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 U.S. troops deployed to Syria,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Ryder told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday. “In light of the situation in Syria, and in significant interest, we’ve recently learned that those numbers were higher.”

Ryder asked to look into the numbers and said he learned on Thursday that there are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.

“It was explained to me these additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission requirements, whereas the core 900 deployers are on longer term deployments,” he continued. “As you know, for many of our deployments, numbers will fluctuate from time to time, but given that this number is significantly higher than what we’ve been briefing, I wanted to let you know, as soon as I found out this information.”

TOP US ALLY, SDF COMMANDER IN SYRIA WARNS OF ISIS RETURN IF TURKISH AIRSTRIKES DON’T STOP

Pentagon press secretary Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters there are over two times the number of U.S. troops in Syria than previously reported. (Pentagon Live Feed)

The lead spokesman said there are diplomatic and operational security considerations with deployments and the numbers of troops associated with those deployments, as was the case with Syria.

Ryder noted that the troops were in Syria before the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – who fled to Russia earlier this month and ended a nearly 14-year struggle to maintain power in his country – and help augment the defeat of ISIS mission.

After learning of the fluctuation in number of troops, Fox News’ Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin pressed Ryder about the correction to the number of troops and timing.

US GROUP LOOKS FOR KIDNAPPED AMERICANS IN SYRIA AFTER FALL OF ASSAD REGIME

People celebrate in Damascus after fall of Assad regime

People wave guns in the air as they gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime in Umayyad Square on Dec. 8 in Damascus, Syria. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

“This is more than double the number of troops that we’ve been told for quite some time. So, are we talking about this has been going on for months? For Years?” Griffin asked. “Is this something that just happened this summer? We need a time frame.”

“Yeah, I think it would probably be fair to say at a minimum, months,” Ryder said. “I’ll go back and look. But it’s…yeah, it’s been going on for a while.”

The news of additional troops in Syria comes as interest in the region is exceptionally high, especially after the fall of Assad.

ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR INSISTS NATION IS ‘NOT GETTING INVOLVED’ IN SYRIAN REGIME CHANGE

DAMASCUS, SYRIA – MAY 03: Syria’s then-President Bashar al-Assad, seen during the Signing of the comprehensive program of strategic and long-term cooperation between Iran and Syria, On May 03, 2023, In Damascus, Syria. (Borna News/Matin Ghasemi/Aksonline ATPImages/Getty Images)

Attacks by the Turkish military on Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have increased since the Syrian president fled to Russia on Dec. 8. In an interview with Fox News this month, Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the SDF, warned that if his Kurdish fighters have to flee, ISIS would return.

He also said half of his fighters guarding the ISIS camps had to withdraw.

“All of the prisons still are under our control. However, the prisons and camps are in a critical situation because who is guarding them? They are leaving and having to protect their families,” Gen. Mazloum said. “I can give you one example like the Raqqa ISIS prison, which contains about 1,000 ISIS ex-fighters. The number of guards there have diminished by half which is putting them in a fragile position.”

Fox News previously reported that the U.S. had 900 troops in Eastern Syria, but now that number is about 2,000, and they would likely have to withdraw if the allied Kurdish fighters retreat under attack from Turkey’s military, which views the Kurds as a terrorist threat.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.

World

EU countries inspect Chinese vessel after data cables damaged

Published

7 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Press Room

EU countries inspect Chinese vessel after data cables damaged

The Yi Peng 3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month while diplomats in Stockholm and Beijing discussed access to the vessel.

Representatives from Germany, Finland and Denmark have boarded a Chinese cargo ship believed to be connected to the rupture of two data cables on the Baltic Sea bed in November.

Swedish police and Chinese officials were also part of the inspection of the Yi Peng 3 vessel which is anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the visit was supposed to take place on Wednesday but was called off due to bad weather.

“It is our expectation that when the inspection is completed by this group of people from the four countries, the ship will be able to sail to its destination,” he told reporters.

The Yi Peng 3 has been anchored in the Kattegat Sea for a month while diplomats in Stockholm and Beijing discussed access to the vessel.

Sweden had formally asked China in November to cooperate with the investigation into how the undersea data cables were damaged after the China-flagged vessel was seen in the area.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at the time that it was, “extremely important to find out exactly what happened.”

The two cables, one running from Finland to Germany and the other from Lithuania to Sweden, were both damaged in Swedish waters.

The Wall Street Journal reported in November that investigators suspected the Yi Peng 3 had deliberately severed the fibre-optic cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed.

In a post on X, NORSAR, the Norwegian foundation that tracks earthquakes and nuclear explosions, said it hadn’t detected any “seismic signals” in the area, indicating there hadn’t been any explosions.

The Yi Peng 3 has been anchored between Sweden and Denmark where it was being monitored by several vessels, including those belonging to the Danish navy.

“These types of incidents, they annoy all of us, obviously, and those who are interested in safe navigation and safety as such on the Baltic Sea and in countries in the Baltic Sea region,” said Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a press conference in November.

Tusk was referring to separate incidents which saw the Nord Stream pipelines and the Balticconnector damaged.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany, were both damaged in explosions in 2022.

And the Balticconnector gas pipeline was seriously damaged the next year.

Finnish, Swedish and German authorities all launched investigations into the rupture of the two fibre-optic cables.

Germany’s defence minister said that the damage appeared to have been caused by sabotage.

Chinese authorities in Beijing said they had no information about the ship but denied any responsibility and said Beijing was ready to “maintain communication” with relevant parties.