MOVES by the Hungarian government to tighten controls on the media and seize private pension assets are enraging its EU partners just as the country takes over the rotating presidency of the bloc. The steps by Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party have elicited unusual public rebukes from Britain, Germany and Luxembourg, whose foreign minister openly questioned last week whether Hungary was “worthy” of leading the EU. Berlin and other capitals have pressed Budapest to amend its new media law even before it goes into force, worried the clampdown could dilute the bloc's message on press freedoms to countries like Russia and become a distraction as Europe grapples with a debt crisis.. In a clear warning to Orban's government Thursday, Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer pressed Budapest to clear up concerns about the law “quickly”. “I assume the final word by the Hungarian government hasn't been spoken yet on this issue,” he told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office had the same message, calling freedom of the press “the heart” of a free society and urging Budapest to reconsider its plans. But Hungary is digging in its heels. On Thursday, its president signed off on the legislation, which establishes a new national media authority packed with officials loyal to Fidesz, which will oversee all public news production and have powers to levy big fines on private media. The showdown comes at a crucial moment for the 27-nation EU, which is preparing to approve controversial changes to its main treaty in order to set up a new financial rescue mechanism for euro zone countries and introduce new reforms to strengthen budget discipline. During Hungary's six-month presidency, it will preside over the launch of sensitive talks on the EU's 2014-20 budget, which will pit Britain, Germany and France against poorer countries.Major decisions affecting the euro zone are likely to be drafted by EU powerhouses Germany and France. Still, Hungarian officials will preside over monthly meetings of ministers of agriculture, energy, environment, employment and, most crucially, finances.
