A member of the European Parliament committee made personal comments at the end of the meeting, said the president of the NMHH, who encouraged the members of the delegation to come more often. András Koltay (pictured) also indicated that while the opposition press had already received the report, it had not yet been officially sent to them. By the way, Mandiner knows that the delegation only met representatives of opposition media in Hungary.

"According to the literature, one of the basic criteria of media independence is that journalists working for an independent body pay close attention to the generally recognized professional standards of media ethics. These ethical standards also require, for example, that if an article is prepared about someone, they are given the opportunity to express their point of view before it is published. This time it was not done - as in the case of all the media reporting on the case"  

András Koltay, president of the National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH), told Mandiner about the information published .

According to the left-wing daily, András Koltay described certain questions as provocative during his meeting with the seven-member delegation of the European Parliament's culture and education committee last November, and asked them not to come to Hungary again when leaving.

According to Koltay, the surprising lesson of the visit of the EP delegation is the means by which the representatives try to promote the cause of free and independent publicity. These tools include targeted leaks and unblinking distortion of facts.

"It was no different in many similar cases, but one always hopes for the best," stressed Koltay.

He said: he cannot comment on the content of the report, because while it was sent to others, those who, as interviewed parties, could comment on its content, were not. At the same time, the president of the NMHH trusts him, sooner or later the material will reach them, officially.

The president explained: " the discussion probably took place in the usual, polite way. And yes, I maintain that the independence and pluralism of the media are much more complicated professional issues than beating the interlocutor over the head as a political stick, at the level of slogans. But of course, I respect that if some members of the delegation think differently about this".

"According to my recollection, I had a sharper tone of dialogue with a single member of a delegation of 6-8 people. The lady representative clearly wanted to persuade me to take a stand on political issues that were in no way related to the work of the media authority, while I was prepared in such a way that if someone comes to the NMHH, they obviously want to get to know the work of the media authority and the state of the public in Hungary," he quoted. up the president of the NMHH.

"After I rejected several times the incomprehensible attempt to divert the conversation (which no one else has attempted in the past 12 years, nor on dozens of other similar occasions, except for the representative woman in question), at the end of the official part, while saying goodbye, he made some personal comments to me in broken English " - continued the president. On the one hand, I refused these, and on the other hand, I indicated that, taking into account the unwritten rules of diplomacy, which are mandatory even for such events, I was at least surprised by what happened. Koltay also emphasized that he did not ask the delegation to stop coming to Hungary, there was no reason to do so, and he also respects the aforementioned diplomatic norms. " On the contrary: I would encourage them to come as often as possible, and let's talk as much as possible, to see if all of this would promote mutual understanding," stressed András Koltay.

Read the full Mandiner article

Author. Robert Baranya

Picture: Márton Ficsor