Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban has declared his readiness to change the country's widely criticized new media law, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday in Budapest, dpa reported. "I am glad that the prime minister is prepared to change the law if necessary," Barroso told reporters after talks with Orban in the Hungarian parliament. "The principle of freedom of the press is sacred to the EU," the Commission president said. Barroso said that the European Commission had acquired a full, informal translation of the 200-page document only the previous day, but that a legal review will begin as soon as Hungary "officially" submits the text of the law. Orban said Hungary would do all it can to prevent "adverse political debate" over the issue from hampering the success of its EU presidency. -- SPA
