Orbán’s Salami Tactics to Overcome Independent Media

How to Reverse the Budapest-Warsaw Express?

16 February 2021

Wojciech Przybylski

Editor-in-Chief

After Klubrádió’s fate has been sealed, Polish journalists have an opportunity to share with Hungarian colleagues their know-how to crowdfund a new internet radio station successfully. While Budapest and Warsaw differ in their approach to subjugate the media, they require a common set of responses.

Do not confuse the road towards taking over and monopolising the Polish media market with the Hungarian one. Yet, they both may result in a complete subordination of the majority of media outlets.

Viktor Orbán also subjugated state broadcasters and news agencies. He punished independent titles, depriving them among others of revenues from advertising and public announcements. Already in 2014, he began by conquering the regional media.

The system is now being brought to completion: on Monday 15 February, the last major independent radio will disappear from the air. This is another triumph of Fidesz in the war with journalists.

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Wojciech Przybylski

Editor-in-Chief

Wojciech Przybylski is leading strategic foresight on EU affairs to improve democratic security of Poland in Europe. He organises EuropeFuture.Forum as the Editor of Visegrad Insight and the President of Res Publica Foundation. An advisory board member at LSE IDEAS Ratiu Forum, European Forum of New Ideas. A guest lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute for the U.S. Government, Warsaw University and CEU Democracy Institute. He co-authored among others a book 'Understanding Central Europe’, (Routledge 2017), and 'On the Edge. Poland' (Culturescapes 2019), 'Let's Agree on Poland' (Oxford University Press, 2025) and was widely published in the international press.

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