On Our Radar

Hungary and Czechia

27 March 2026

On Our Radar this week: cautious signs of positive reform for public media ahead of Hungary’s pivotal election, and a withdrawn Czech licence fee amendment that nonetheless reveals a troubling attempt to undermine public media’s financial stability.

On Our Radar this week…

As Hungary heads towards a pivotal election, there are cautious signs of potential reform to the country’s public media system, even as serious challenges persist for independent reporting. Journalists covering campaign events have faced obstruction and restricted access, while debate intensifies over the role of the national broadcaster, MTVA, which has long been criticised for favouring the ruling Fidesz party. At the same time, proposals from the opposition Tisza Party signal potentially far-reaching changes to the public media system, including reforms to governance and editorial structures. PMA calls on Hungarian authorities to guarantee safe access for all journalists and remove restrictions that hinder their ability to provide comprehensive election reporting. Meanwhile, we call for any potential reforms of the national broadcaster to be grounded in transparency, broad stakeholder consultation, and clear safeguards for editorial independence, free from political capture. Public service media must not be treated as a tool of power, but protected as essential democratic infrastructure, especially at a moment when voters rely on it most. Read more from PMA’s recent Briefing.

And in the Czech Republic, a last-minute amendment seeking to grant licence fee exemptions to select citizens represents yet another attempt to undermine the financial stability of public media. The proposal, announced by the coalition on Monday 23 March without any prior consultation or engagement, was to be tabled on Tuesday 24 March. It proposed giving concessions to the over-75s, students under 26, disabled people, and certain companies, which would have reduced public media revenue by a third. The head of Czech Radio, René Zavoral described the move as “an act of intimidation towards public service media”, while the head of Czech TV, Hynek Chudárek said it would lead to a “collapse”. In the end, the law amendment was withdrawn, after the deputy speaker of the lower house said it was not ready. But the saga is a troubling development: while the substance of the bill is damaging enough – carrying significant repercussions for public media finances – we believe the process of introducing the amendments showed a worrying lack of transparency, prior consultation, and willingness to engage with the public service media companies themselves. Both Chudàrek and Zavoral indicated they had little to no engagement with the government and the culture minister, Oto Klempíř. It indicates the government is not taking the gravity of these amendments seriously and the profound impact such proposals would have upon the public broadcasters. This law proposal was also designed to be the first step towards the complete ending of the licence fee by the start of next year, a move which PMA and fellow media freedom organisations vehemently oppose. We urge the Czech coalition government to engage meaningfully and thoughtfully with the public service broadcasters.

PMA Advocacy Team