BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian opposition parties say a new law reshaping the institutions overseeing the country's media are undemocratic and will increase the government's influence over public broadcasters.
The regulations, recently signed into law by Hungary’s new president, Pal Schmitt, opened the way for Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday to name Annamaria Szalai head of the just-created National Media and Telecommunications Authority for a nine-year term.
Gergely Karacsony, of the Politics Can Different party, says the changes could transform public-service media — which includes television and radio stations and a news agency — into "government mouthpieces."
Laszlo Kovacs of the opposition Socialist Party says the new rules do not conform with European standards.
