# Incidents: funding and ownership pressure in Europe Each incident is a dated action by a government, an official, a regulator, a court or a legislature that limited journalists' ability to gather or publish news. The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct. Filters: country, continent, tactic, stage, from, to, level, actor, leader, outlet, outcome, source_kind, has_case, plus q, sort (date, date_asc, country, tactic, relevance), per_page (up to 100), page and view (table or cards), as query parameters. 10 incidents match this view. - 4 August 2026: [Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2026-russia-new-law-targets-exiled-journalists-assets). On August 4, 2026, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a law, adopted unanimously by the Russian parliament on July 24, 2026, that allows the authorities to freeze bank accounts, block property and vehicle sales and deny consul… - 20 June 2024: [Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2024-slovakia-dissolves-rtvs-creates-stvr). Slovakia's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Robert Fico's coalition, dissolved public broadcaster RTVS and replaced it with a new entity, STVR, whose director is now chosen through a process giving parliament and the culture minist… - 20 December 2023: [Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-hungary-sovereignty-protection-act). On December 20, 2023, the president of Hungary, Katalin Novák, promulgated the National Sovereignty Protection Act, passed by the National Assembly, Hungary's parliament, during the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán. The law c… - April 2021: [Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2021-poland-orlen-buys-polska-press). Poland's state-controlled oil company PKN Orlen completed the purchase of Polska Press, a group of 20 regional newspapers reaching millions of readers, from its German owner, over objections from Poland's human rights commissioner. - 24 July 2020: [Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2020-hungary-index-hu-editor-fired). Index.hu, Hungary's most-read independent news site, fired editor-in-chief Szabolcs Dull weeks after he warned that a change in ownership threatened its independence. Most of the newsroom resigned within days. - 29 November 2018: [Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-hungary-kesma-media-merger). Owners aligned with Hungary's governing party donated 476 outlets into one non-profit foundation, KESMA. The government exempted the merger from the antitrust review that would normally apply to a combination of that size. - 31 December 2015: [Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2015-poland-public-media-law-firings). Weeks after winning power, Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party passed a law letting the treasury minister directly appoint and dismiss the heads of public radio and television, and dozens of journalists at the public broadcaster were subs… - 21 December 2010: [Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-hungary-media-law-content-authority). Hungary's parliament, controlled by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, passed a media law creating a government-appointed National Media and Infocommunications Authority empowered to fine any outlet, print, broadcast or online, fo… - 14 April 2001: [State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2001-russia-gazprom-takeover-ntv). Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas company, used debts owed by NTV's parent company to take control of the country's last major independent television network at a shareholders' meeting, replacing its owner and top editors with its own… - 20 October 1998: [Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1998-serbia-public-information-act-fines). Serbia's parliament passed a Public Information Act allowing courts to levy same-day fines against newspapers for vaguely defined offenses against the state's interests, and independent papers were fined far more often and more heavily tha… Download this view. CSV, JSON or Markdown. CC BY 4.0; credit "The War On News, thewaronnews.com". - CSV: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&tactic=funding_and_ownership_pressure&view=cards&format=csv - JSON: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.json?continent=europe&tactic=funding_and_ownership_pressure&view=cards - Markdown: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.md?continent=europe&tactic=funding_and_ownership_pressure&view=cards - Incidents (RSS): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/feed.xml - Incidents (Atom): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/atom.xml - Incidents (JSON Feed): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/feed.json - All incidents (CSV): https://thewaronnews.com/incidents.csv Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?continent=europe&tactic=funding_and_ownership_pressure&view=cards. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.