Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Donald Trump and Victor Orban are good friends. They have a lot in common and are not friends of democracy!"

Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Donald Trump and Victor Orban are good friends. They have a lot in common and are not friends of democracy!"------------------- DER SPIEGEL Hungary: Demonstrators denounce Victor Orban for appropriating Hungarian media 10 hours • 2 minutes reading time Hungary's Prime Minister Victor Orbán has taken away the voice of critical journalism. Thousands protested against this in Budapest. Opposition leader Peter Magyar demanded: "Enough of the lies, enough of the propaganda." Thousands of people demonstrated in the Hungarian capital Budapest against the appropriation of the state media by the government of the right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In the crowd gathered in front of the headquarters of the state television station MTVA, banners with demands such as "Independent public media" and "Not left, not right, just Hungarian" could be seen. Numerous protesters waved the Hungarian flag. The demonstration was organized by the Tisza party of opposition leader Peter Magyar, who has become Orbán's main domestic political rival and has gained popularity in recent months. "Enough of the lies, enough of the propaganda," Magyar said in a speech at the demonstration about the state media. MTVA is considered the mouthpiece of the head of government. The broadcaster rarely expresses criticism of the government, but regularly harshly attacks Orbán's opponents. Many of Hungary's private and independent media have either closed down or taken a pro-government course in recent years. The state media, in turn, have been brought onto a pro-government line by Orbán's Fidesz party. Hungary currently ranks 67th out of 180 in the press freedom rankings of the organization Reporters Without Borders. Since 2001, the organization has also maintained a list of the "world's biggest enemies of press freedom." In 2021, it also included Victor Orbán - as the first head of government of an EU member state. Alongside him on the list: several African autocrats, Vietnam's Communist Party leader Nguyen Phú Trong, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and China's President Xi Jinping.