{"id":482,"date":"2025-11-28T15:16:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T14:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/?p=482"},"modified":"2025-11-28T15:19:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T14:19:26","slug":"veget-ert-a-szabad-europa-magyar-szolgaltatasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/2025\/11\/28\/veget-ert-a-szabad-europa-magyar-szolgaltatasa\/","title":{"rendered":"Szabad Eur\u00f3pa, The Hungarian Service of Radio Free Europe Has Ended"},"content":{"rendered":"

Szabad Eur\u00f3pa \u2013 the Hungarian service of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty \u2013 ceased operations on November 21 after the Trump administration halted its funding. This represents a significant loss for high-quality journalism in Hungary.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radio Free Europe was created during the Cold War to provide reliable news to people living behind the Iron Curtain. The Hungarian service shut down in 1993 following the democratic transition, but was relaunched in 2020 in direct response to Hungary’s deteriorating media freedom environment. This relaunch reflected international recognition that quality journalism in Hungary urgently needed support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Szabad Eur\u00f3pa uncovered numerous important issues of public interest. Its high-impact investigative reporting covered the misuse of EU funds<\/a>, Russian<\/a> and Chinese influence operations, and the MOL waste-management concession scandal<\/a>, among other topics. The outlet also gave voice to marginalized communities, drawing attention to stories<\/a> that rarely appear in mainstream Hungarian media. Through this work, Szabad Eur\u00f3pa strengthened oversight of public spending, enriched public debate, and held those in power accountable.<\/span><\/p>\n

The closure of Szabad Eur\u00f3pa further restricts access to quality information in an environment where government-aligned actors control most media-market resources, and where disinformation and state propaganda dominate much of the public sphere. Each loss of a voice makes it harder for Hungarian citizens to access the diverse, fact-based information essential to democratic participation.<\/span><\/p>\n

We express our full solidarity with the journalists and staff of Szabad Eur\u00f3pa, who have served the Hungarian public with courageous, fact-based work under increasingly difficult circumstances. Their professionalism and dedication to journalistic standards deserve recognition and gratitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

Media freedom is fragile and requires constant defense. Protecting it is our shared responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

November 26, 2025<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Szabad Eur\u00f3pa \u2013 the Hungarian service of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty \u2013 ceased operations on November 21 after the Trump administration halted its funding. This represents a significant loss for high-quality journalism in Hungary. Radio Free Europe was created during the Cold War to provide reliable news to people living behind the Iron Curtain. The … Szabad Eur\u00f3pa, The Hungarian Service of Radio Free Europe Has Ended<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-szabad-europa","category-us-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":484,"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482\/revisions\/484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaforum.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}