The Hungarian government has officially lifted restrictions on the distribution of Ukrainian media within the country, reversing a policy enacted by the previous administration.
Zoltán Tarr, Hungary’s minister of social relations and culture, announced the decision on Friday, June 19, on Facebook.
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He stated the move is intended to ensure that the Ukrainian community and refugees residing in Hungary have reliable access to information in their native language, while also serving as a step toward normalizing bilateral relations between Budapest and Kyiv.
Reversing the 2025 ban
According to Tarr, the media restrictions were voluntarily implemented in 2025 by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party. At the time, the Fidesz government cited Ukraine’s actions against specific Hungarian newspapers – which Kyiv accused of violating journalistic standards and spreading Russian state narratives – as the basis for the ban.
Tarr rejected the previous administration’s rationale. “One cannot confuse media spreading Russian propaganda with genuine, independent press, neither in Hungary nor internationally,” the minister stated.
Tarr argued that the former government used the media ban to intentionally damage diplomatic ties. “The ousted government constantly worked on digging trenches, and blocking these publications had no other goal,” he said. “Our task is to build good-neighborly relations, which will help improve the situation of Hungarians abroad – this is a common national cause.”
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