The Times of Malta has joined several other European newspapers that have refused the Hungarian government’s request to cover a full-page paid article outlining Prime Minister Victor Orban’s vision for the future of the European Union, the Associated Press reported.
A number of publications across Europe published the article, translated into local languages, in the week in which the Hungarian government was criticized for a bill passed in June that many European leaders condemned as an attack on the rights of the LGBT community.
The Times in Malta wrote yesterday that the publication of Orbán’s article would turn the newspaper into a “tool for promoting anything that contradicts press freedom”, and described Orbán as prime minister who “restricted journalists, democracy, the rule of law” and other human rights “.
The newspaper called the recent Hungarian bill – which bans the showing of minors any content related to homosexuality or gender reassignment in movies, TV shows and sex education programs in schools – “a blatant violation of human rights by the EU”.
In an article published in France, Spain, the Czech Republic and other countries, Orban argues that “a superpower is being built in Brussels” and that European integration is “a tool, not an end”. “We say no to a European empire,” reads one of the seven points set out in the article.
Orbán also called the European Parliament a “dead end” and sharply criticized NGOs for having excessive influence on policy-making. Orban also called for Serbia to join the 27-nation bloc.
The Belgian newspaper Standard, which declined to reprint the article, published a full-page response to Orban’s allegations on Tuesday.
“Dear Victor Orban, laws should never distinguish between one kind or another of love. No government should dictate how to talk about love,” reads the text of the article, which was published against the backdrop of rainbow colors.
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Karel Verhoeven, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, wrote in an accompanying message on the newspaper’s website that it would be “too cynical to sell media space to a head of government who has restricted the free press in his country.”
The Belgian newspapers Libr Belgik and Morgen also refused to publish the article. Swedish Dagens editor-in-chief Peter Volodarski wrote on Twitter that the publication had asked for an interview with Orban instead, but had not received a response.
Peter Felman, editor-in-chief of the Swedish daily Dagens Industries, which published Orban’s article, told Swedish television yesterday that it was “a difficult decision, but it is a liberal newspaper that defends freedom of speech.”
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