„Meanwhile, Mr. Orban has overseen passage of two media laws that will put Hungary in a league with Russia and Belarus on press freedom. One puts Fidesz in control of state television channels and all other public media outlets. The second, approved by parliament on Tuesday, creates a powerful Media Council with the authority to regulate newspapers, television, radio and the Internet. (...)
Hungary's private media have strongly protested. So have its democratic neighbors, who have compared Mr. Orban to Russia's Vladimir Putin. The foreign minister of Luxembourg had the sense to publicly question whether Hungary was suited to take over the rotating presidency Jan. 1. But some governments have kept quiet, preferring not to stir up yet another controversy in the crisis-plagued E.U.