The Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jurova, pointed out today the recent "worrying events" for the freedom and independence of the media in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia, during the discussion in the European Parliament.
Jurova, who is also the Czech commissioner in charge of values and transparency, said that the Commission is monitoring the situation and will not hesitate to act in case of non-compliance with EU regulations by parliaments or government decisions.
She reminded how important independent media that work without political pressures are for democracy.
"Unfortunately, the last months have been marked by new worrying developments," she assessed, citing the termination of independent radio station Klubradio in Hungary for "reasons of concern."
She also mentioned a plan to introduce an advertising tax in Poland, which independent media have condemned as a threat to their survival.
"That proposal is currently being considered and we hope that the concerns expressed will be taken into account," she said.
She condemned the aborted attempts in Slovenia to end the funding and independence of the national news agency STA, as well as "frequent verbal attacks on journalists" in that country.
Vera Jurova reminded that in the report on the state of the rule of law in each of the 27 member states, which includes a chapter on media pluralism, "problems" have already been pointed out. The next report is expected in July.
She also said that Hungary was under Article XNUMX of the charter, which was launched due to the risk of "serious violations" of EU values, and expressed hope that she would soon be able to discuss the issue at a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
"We need to make progress," she said, although this procedure, which can lead to the deprivation of voting rights for a member country of the Union, is inapplicable in practice because it requires that all member countries adopt it unanimously.
However, Jurova admitted that the Commission has "limited" powers regarding the media and expressed the desire to expand and strengthen the "tools" at its disposal.
During the debate, MEP Gwendolyn Delbos-Corfield, rapporteur for the situation in Hungary, condemned the purchase of media companies by companies linked to Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government.
In the statement, the representative of the non-governmental organization Libertis (Liberties) assessed that the EU made a big mistake by turning a blind eye to Orban's attacks on democracy in his country.
"The problem worsened and encouraged authoritarian leaders in other countries to follow his lead, such as Poland and Slovenia," she said.
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