According to the report of Freedom House the freedom of the press in Hungary has not increased since last year. The report says the most important opposition paper, Magyar Nemzet, protests because its advertisers are intimidated by the government.

The annual report of Freedom House (Washington) respected worldwide has evaluated the freedom of the Hungarian press with 23 points, the same as it was last year, so press has been qualified ’free’ again in Hungary. According to the report there has been some progress in the field of independent media but a certain political interference is still present and the pro-government media obtains information easier. The report says the largest opposition party has accused the new government of influencing the state television and radio while the most important opposition daily, Magyar Nemzet protests because its advertisers are intimidated by the government. The situation is better than it was in 1997 when Hungary with its 31 points was in the ’partially free’ category. In the evaluation Hungary obtained as many points as Austria while some countries in the region received a more favourable qualification like Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia. The best mark has been given to Belgium (9 points), Finland and Switzerland (10 points), and Denmark (11 points) while the American freedom of the press was evaluated with 17 points.

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