Hungary: EDP urges Commission to end illegal state aid in media
In Brussels, just weeks before Hungary’s national elections, the European Democratic Party (EDP) is putting media freedom and fair competition back at the centre of the EU agenda. The EDP Secretary-General and Renew Europe Member of the European Parliament Sandro Gozi has filed a priority written question to the European Commission, addressed to Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera, challenging the institution to end its long-standing silence on alleged illegal state aid in Hungary’s media market. For the EDP, this is a test of the Union’s ability to defend the rule of law in the economy and protect citizens’ right to plural, independent information.
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A formal complaint submitted in April 2025, supported by a comprehensive economic study by former DG COMP Chief Economist Kai-Uwe Kühn, alleges that the Hungarian government has selectively channelled around €1.1 billion in state advertising subsidies to allied outlets since 2015. The analysis argues that this public “life support” has kept non-profitable, pro-government media afloat while starving independent competitors of legitimate revenue. As Gozi puts it, "This isn't about political ideology; it's about basic market fairness," adding that, "When a government pumps more into its allies' pockets under the guise of 'advertising' than is spent by the entire private sector in a whole year, the free market has ceased to exist. With the April elections approaching, the Commission’s inaction is no longer just negligent — it risks becoming wilful.".
The EDP notes that the Commission has still not reached even a preliminary decision on whether to open a formal investigation, despite both the 2025 complaint and a similar one filed by Mérték Media Monitor in 2019. Gozi is explicit about the political and legal cost of delay: "The Commission has allowed the 2019 Mérték complaint to sit unanswered for six years. We are asking EVP Ribera to provide a definitive timeline for action. Allowing these delays sends a message that competition law and the 'market economy operator' principle are optional for some Member States". The key figures cited in the complaint reinforce the urgency: total estimated state aid reaches €1.117 billion including interest for 2015–2023, exceeding the Hungarian media market’s total annual advertising expenditure in 2024, with the study also tracking sharp post-acquisition spikes—five- to fifteen-fold—in government advertising after outlets moved under government-aligned ownership.
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The intervention is echoed in Hungary by the EDP’s member party Mindenki Magyarországa Néppárt (MMN), which is mobilising against the capture of the media market ahead of the vote. Its leader, Péter Márki-Zay, warned that state advertising has become a tool of political control rather than public information: “In Hungary, state advertising is no longer about information — it is about power. Independent media cannot compete when public money is used to reward loyalty,” Márki-Zay said, calling on the European Commission to act to protect media pluralism and fair competition ahead of the elections.
The impact on independent journalism is also described directly by Magyar Hang. Its Managing Director, Csaba Lukács, says, "The independent press in Hungary, including Magyar Hang, experiences on a daily basis how difficult it is to survive in this highly distorted market, while propaganda publications, fattened on state advertising money, thrive and flourish," warning that, "The existence of the independent press depends on this flawed state practice being stopped as soon as possible in order to prevent market distortion."
The context is further underscored by recent Hungarian court rulings against KESMA, the pro-government media conglomerate, which found that state-sponsored advertising was used unlawfully to fund propaganda outlets. For the EDP, the cumulative evidence points to a broader European issue. As Gozi stresses, "For us, the European Democrats (EDP), this practice is a structural distortion of the EU internal market. With national elections approaching, we need an immediate signal from the Commission that public funds cannot be instrumentalized to undermine fair competition. We are calling for immediate recovery action to restore market logic to the sector".
For the EDP, the next step is clear: the Commission should commit to a definitive timetable for resolving both the 2019 and 2025 complaints and, where warranted, use state aid and competition tools to restore a level playing field. The credibility of EU competition policy—and the Union’s commitment to media pluralism—depends on showing that no media market in Europe is above the law.
