Hungarian investment in the Balkans:
A Test for Europe’s Media Law
About
The cases presented here show how opaque ownership structures and hidden financial flows can quietly erode media freedom — even in the EU’s immediate neighborhood. Unless addressed, these vulnerabilities risk spilling over into Europe’s wider information space.
The Balkans’ fragile democratic institutions make the region an easy target, but the warning is Europe-wide. Without stronger safeguards, similar tactics could be replicated anywhere, undermining trust in the media and weakening democratic resilience.
This brief calls on Brussels to act decisively: tighten ownership transparency, subject media financing to stricter scrutiny, establish robust monitoring of cross-border investors with clear accountability when rules are broken, and enforce compliance across member states and candidate countries. Only by closing these loopholes can the EU prevent media capture from becoming entrenched — and safeguard the integrity of Europe’s democratic space.
Findings
Ownership penetration enabled Hungarian businesses close to Viktor Orbán to purchase media across the region with little to no detection.
Non-transparent financing by these investors distorted the respective media markets, putting independent outlets at a disadvantage.
Despite there being limited editorial impact, these cross-border media investments reveal how fragile markets can be exploited and influenced.
Recommendations
Mandata full ownership transparency
Expand the relevant articles of the EMFA to encompass beneficial ownership and establish real-time, publicly-accessible registries to track ownership across borders.
Promote transparent media financing
Expand the relevant articles of the EMFA to cover all forms of public media financing, develop clear criteria for advertising distribution and related monitoring mechanisms, and promote ethical media funding models in the Balkans.
Address regulatory asymmetry within and outside the EU
Include EMFA compliance in EU accession requirements and build up the capacity and integrity of national regulators to sanction those in violation of the EMFA and collaborate with stakeholders on the above initiatives.