Fidesz delegate to ORTT responds to US Congressional move on radio licenses

Annamária Szalai, Fidesz delegate on the media watchdog body ORTT, hit back at US legislators after the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the ORTT’s refusal to renew the licenses of two radio broadcasters.

In a Thursday statement, Szalai said “I find it an interesting development form the point of view of cultural history that this resolution passed by the US Congress was issued in a country where the law bans foreign companies from obtaining more than a 20% stake in any American radio station”.

The ORTT awarded the national frequencies in a transparent and open tender, she said, adding that Hungary is a democratic state governed by the rule of law where courts may review decisions passed by the ORTT. Politically inspired supervision is not possible under the law, nor would they be fortunate in the interest of press freedom, she said.

Ohio representative Dennis Kucinich, chairman of the Hungarian friendship group in Congress, told MTI that the resolution is based on a misunderstanding, and called it “a tiny cloud in the otherwise sunny sky of US-Hungarian relations”. Kucinich did not support the resolution.