Der Spiegel, Le Monde and RAI are on the blacklist drawn up by the Russian authorities. Viktor Orbán has once again exercised his right of veto to disrupt the foreign policy of the European Union.
Viktor Orbán has once again exercised his veto right to disrupt the foreign policy of the European Union. On Wednesday, Hungary blocked the publication of a joint statement denouncing the recent decision of the Kremlin to ban the broadcasting of 81 European media outlets in Russia.
Among the media banned by Moscow are some well-known in Europe, such as the Austrian ‘ORF’, the German ‘Der Spiegel’, the Irish ‘RTE’, the Spanish ‘El País’ and ‘El Mundo’, the Italian ‘RAI’, the Portuguese ‘Público’, the French ‘Le Monde’ and ‘AFP’, and the Finnish ‘YLE’.
The list includes a Hungarian digital media outlet, the news portal ‘444’, which is independent. All media included in the list dissemination is prohibited and online spaces in Russia.
Moscow says the restrictions will be lifted if the EU bloc lifts sanctions imposed last month on RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, outlets widely considered to be pro-war propaganda spreaders. The sanctions also affected ‘Voice of Europe’, the Netherlands-based website, which has been implicated in the so-called Rusiagate.
Lack of unanimity prevents a joint EU response
Brussels wanted to react to the ‘eye for an eye‘ from Russia with a critical statement endorsed by all 27 Member States, as required by the rule of unanimity in foreign policy. However, Hungary blocked the collective reprimandforcing Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, to publish a statement on your own.
Borrell states that the ban “totally unfounded“”further restricts access to free and independent information and expands the already severe censorship of the media in Russia,” and makes clear that the sanctions to the Russian media would remain in force.
“Russian disinformation and propaganda media, against which the EU has introduced restrictive measures, do not represent a free and independent media,” he wrote. “Your broadcasting activities in the EU have been suspendedbecause these media are under the control of the Russian authorities and contribute to supporting the aggression against Ukraine,” he adds.
The latest political turn adds to the long list of vetoes from Hungary, a perennial source of exasperation among diplomats in Brussels. Despite his repeated pleasBudapest continues to obstruct €6.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
At the beginning of the year, Orbán I create controversy between his EU counterparts by congratulating Vladimir Putin on “his re-election”, which other member states had refused to recognize.
The chosen moment has also raised blisters. Hungary will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on July 1, a Privileged position which will allow you to mark the political agenda and moderate debates between Member States.
