Hungary: Court bans mass dismissals from state media
On Friday, the Budapest Labor Court ruled that the controversial mass layoffs at Hungarian state-owned media outlets were unlawful. However, the ruling is not yet final because the state-owned media holding company MTVA has filed an appeal.
This was reported by the Hungarian state news agency MTI, citing the Trade Union of Television and Film Workers (TFSZ), which is acting as the plaintiff. MTVA operates all state TV and radio stations as well as the MTI agency.
In the summer, 420 MTVA employees received redundancy notices. A further 500 or so redundancies were to follow soon. According to the TFSZ trade union, these plans have now been put on hold due to the pending legal proceedings.
Hungary had been criticized internationally by civil rights and media organizations for the media policy of Viktor Orban's right-wing nationalist government. Complaints were made that the autonomy of public broadcasters and the diversity of news had been destroyed with the creation of MTVA last year. News is now produced centrally by a uniform MTVA editorial team for all broadcasters. Critics also believe that the mass redundancies that have begun at MTVA are intended to create editorial offices that are loyal to the government. The media law that came into force at the beginning of this year also gives the government the power to censor private media. (SDA)
