Rhone. Orban’s Hungary involved in Euronews purchase
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Officially, it is the investment fund Alpac Capital, headquartered in Portugal, which acquired a majority share in Euronews in July 2022, for an amount of around 170 million euros.
The transaction was validated by the French Ministry of Finance, Euronews, which has its headquarters in Lyon, being a company under French law in a strategic sector, that of the media.
A third of funds linked to the Hungarian Prime Minister
However, at least a third of the funds come from sources linked to Viktor Orban, the Hungarian investigative website Direkt36, the French daily Le Monde and the Portuguese weekly Expresso revealed on Thursday.
The Hungarian Szechenyi Fund, an organization under the supervision at the time of the transaction of a foundation chaired by Economy Minister Mihaly Varga, made a contribution of 45 million euros, according to internal documents.
A “strictly confidential” PowerPoint presentation obtained by Direkt36 suggests that political considerations played a role in the decision.
The operation aimed in particular to mitigate “left-wing bias” in the media, with Euronews being “influential on EU policies”.
An internal source cited by the media said it was obvious that the order to finance the investment came “from above”.
“No interference”
Another Hungarian actor involved, New Land Media, main partner in the communications operations of the Orban cabinet.
The company granted a loan of 12.5 million euros to a Hungarian subsidiary of Alpac Capital, a “useful and profitable” investment, confirmed its owner Gyula Balasy in a statement sent to AFP.
Contacted, Viktor Orban’s press secretary, Bertalan Havasi, affirmed that the government was “not aware” of the agreement.
In the past, the nationalist leader had denied any involvement, while the director of Alpac Capital, Pedro Vargas David, is the son of former MEP Mario David, a former advisor and personal friend of Mr. Orban.
Since his return to power in 2010, the Hungarian media landscape has been profoundly reshaped: public media have become the conduit for official policy, while those close to power have bought entire sections of the private media sector.
The management of Euronews “does not have details of the shareholding”
In a press release published Friday evening, the management of Euronews said “it is not aware of the details of the shareholding of the fund controlling the company”, but contests “any idea or suggestion of editorial interference in its information mission “.
The journalists interviewed by Le Monde confirmed that they have not observed any interference on Hungarian or European issues so far.
Unions, however, denounced advertising contracts signed with countries such as Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia which, according to them, affect content.
A continuous news channel launched in 1993 by around twenty European television channels, Euronews originally broadcast from Lyon in 15 languages.
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