The Freedom Of The Press Is Under Threat In Four Eastern European Nations, A Survey Suggests

A recent survey indicates that more than half of people in four former communist nations in central Europe believe that media freedom is at risk, and significant majorities wish the government or the EU were taking action to protect it.

This study has been conducted among respondents in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and is purportedly the largest opinion poll on this issue to be conducted in the countries of the "Visegrád Group". The findings of this survey will contribute to the development of a press freedom bill by the European Commission.

Vice-president for Values and Transparency of the Commission, Věra Jourová, spearheaded the bill designed to preserve media plurality and independence in the face of rising concerns about ownership and potential government interference.

An estimated 52% of people expressed concern about media freedom - with the highest percentage, 63%, recorded in Poland, whose right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) government has been accused of aggressively targeting independent media with expensive lawsuits and interfering with public broadcasting. Seventy-one percent of respondents in these four countries support legislation protecting government rights, while 59% support giving the EU more legal authority to protect the rights of media. The study was commissioned by the Committee for Editorial Independence and the Czech Committee of the International Press Institute.

The study of 4,069 people was conducted over 16 days in February, before the Russian invasion. Hungary, where Orban's far-right Fidesz government has just been re-elected for a fourth consecutive term, revealed that the highest percentage of respondents, 47%, believes the country's media is not free. Just 30% of respondents rated it as free, compared to 47% in the Czech Republic, where support for free media is highest.

The government of Viktor Orban faces criticism over opaque ownership acquisitions that have led to about 500 different media outlets being housed under an umbrella foundation called Kesma, as well as interference with public broadcasting that has reduced broadcast stations to propaganda channels, often voicing pro-Russian war narratives.