Search: funding and ownership pressure in Europe
The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.
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Russia: law on asset freezes and service denials for exiled "foreign agents", August 2026
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…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Sustained
Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with 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…
Licensing and closure of outlets · Stage Pressure · Head of government Robert Fico · Sustained
Hungary: National Sovereignty Protection Act and Sovereignty Protection Office, December 2023
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…
Official labels · Stage Pressure · Head of government Viktor Orban · Reversed
Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group
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.
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Silence · Head of government Mateusz Morawiecki · Sustained
Hungary: editor fired and staff resign at Index.hu
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.
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Viktor Orban · Sustained
Hungary: formation of the KESMA pro-government media foundation
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.
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Silence · Head of government Viktor Orban · Sustained
Poland's new government gains power to replace public broadcaster leadership, and journalists are dismissed
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…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Beata Szydlo · Sustained
Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage
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…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Pressure · Head of government Viktor Orban · Sustained
State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network
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…
Funding and ownership pressure · Stage Silence · Head of government Vladimir Putin · Sustained
Serbia's Public Information Act lets courts fine independent newspapers into financial danger
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…
Insult and defamation laws · Stage Punish · Head of government Slobodan Milosevic · Reversed