Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union for the first time on Saturday - amid continuing concern about a controversial new media law, according to dpa The Budapest government said "misunderstandings" had led to international criticism of the legislation, which empowers a government body to monitor media and to levy fines for printing or broadcasting matter that violates its guidelines, which, so far, are not clearly defined. The EU presidency would help clear up those misunderstandings, government spokeswoman Anna Nagy was quoted as saying by the Hungarian news agency MTI. She said opponents of the law had based their criticism on incomplete information about the measures. However in Brussels, the International Press Association (API from its French acronym), an umbrella group representing journalists covering EU issues, called for the law to be scrapped. "The legislation provides for the far-reaching political control of media content - print, broadcast, televised and internet ... API therefore calls on the Hungarian government to rescind the bill," a statement issued in Brussels read. The law came into effect on Saturday and the new monitoring commission immediately launched an investigation into a private radio station for playing a song by the US rapper Ice-T which the panel deemed to be harmful to young people. It was not immediately clear if or how the broadcaster, Tilos Radio, would be punished. On Friday, far-right and liberal-green opposition parties joined forces with the opposition Socialists in planning to appeal the media law. The fines allowed under the law are high enough to bankrupt many media companies, critics say. Along with the socialists, the far-right Jobbik and the liberal- Green LMP are now also calling for Hungary's constitutional court to review the law. Jobbik is objecting to the measure because, among other things, the new commission is dominated by members of the ruling Fidesz party. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made no reference to the issue in an interview published on the homepage of the Council of EU member states, the body his government will steer until July 1. "The Hungarians are a tried and tested people that could master many crises, so I can confirm that it is good news for Europe to have a Hungarian presidency in this period" of economic crisis, he said. The presidency's priorities will include starting the implementation of the bloc's new 10-year economic plan, launching talks on an EU-wide policy for the Roma and pushing for progress in accession talks with the states of the Western Balkans, he said. Budapest is also to host a summit with six former-Communist states, from Belarus to Georgia, in May.
