„In a speech to parliament on Monday, Hungary's populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, condemned EU criticism of the media law as an unjustified assault on the »dignity of Hungarians«. Mr. Orban said the government had successfully fended off the attack, »made the attackers' reasoning ridiculous [and] demanded and earned respect«. He added: »We don't accept lecturing from any country«. Neelie Kroes, a European Commission vice president, said she was »pleased« by Hungary's decision to rewrite the legislation. She said the commission would closely monitor the country's future actions.
The EU will »ensure that the agreed changes are now incorporated into Hungarian law and that the revised law is consistently applied in practice«, Ms. Kroes said. Critics of Mr. Orban have portrayed the media law, passed by Hungary's parliament at the end of last year, as part of a wider effort by the populist leader to stifle dissent.
Some members of the European Parliament, the EU's legislature, questioned whether the Hungarian government's proposed amendments go far enough to ensure media freedom. »It's going in the right direction, but whether it's enough, I can't tell«, said Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the European Parliament's Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. And the law remains unpopular among left-leaning news media, including some of the nation's biggest newspapers, and others in Hungary, who see it as an effort by the center-right ruling Fidesz party to dominate the country's domestic political debate. »It's not only the European Commission with whom the government needs to talk«, said Tibor Szanyi, a member of parliament from the opposition Socialist Party. »They need to talk to Hungarian opposition parties and society.«”