Szijjarto: 'Hypocrisy' around freedom of press and opinion 'revealed'

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Thursday commented on two recent cases involving free speech issues, saying "the big hypocrisy of press freedom and freedom of expression is gradually being revealed for what it is." Commenting on German football club Hertha BSC's sacking of Hungarian coach Zsolt Petry due to his remarks about migration and same-sex marriage, Szijjarto said on Facebook that the case highlighted how a public figure had been penalised for taking a position that went against liberal mainstream ideology. Meanwhile, regarding a report by Hungarian public current affairs channel M1 about questions asked by an Austrian journalist to Hungary's ruling Fidesz party, Szijjarto said M1's critical commentary on the journalist had caused an uproar in Austria. Journalists, he added, could rely on press freedom "to spread fake news about Hungary", but another journalist's critical opinion of her work was then interpreted as an attack against press freedom.