Entities close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban were secretly involved in the buyout of the Euronews channel, according to a joint investigation by Hungarian, French and Portuguese media, AFP reported.
Portugal-based investment fund Alpac Capital bought a majority stake in the struggling media company in 2022, reportedly for about 170 million euros. The sale has been approved by the French government.
At least a third of the funds came from sources linked to Orban, Hungarian investigative website Direkt36, French daily Le Monde and Portuguese weekly Expresso revealed.
Hungarian investment fund Szechenyi Funds contributed €45 million, the report said, citing internal documents.
The 64-page preparatory presentation obtained by Direkt36 suggests that political reasons were involved in the decision.
In one of the slides detailing Szechenyi Funds' vision for Euronews, one of the goals is listed as "building cooperation with top universities to reduce left-wing ideology and bias/one-sidedness."
An inside source quoted by the investigative website said it was obvious that the order to fund the investment came "from the top". The source claimed that the people who made the investment were instructed that nothing should be made public.
The company of the Hungarian government's main communications partner, New Land Media, has also provided a long-term loan of EUR 12.5 million to the local subsidiary of Alpac Capital involved in the takeover, its owner Gyula Balasi confirmed to Direkt36.
The head of Orban's press office, Bertalan Havasi, said the Hungarian government "knows nothing" about the deal.
Speculation about the nationalist leader's possible involvement surfaced earlier because Alpac Capital head Pedro Vargas David is the son of former European Parliament member Mario David, a former adviser and personal friend of Orban.
Hungary's nationalist prime minister had earlier denied being linked to the Euronews deal, stressing that his right-wing Fidesz party was "not plotting a global empire".
Since Orban returned to power in 2010, many independent media outlets in Hungary have either ceased operations or been bought by his business allies and turned into pro-Fide bodies.
"Euronews declares itself Europe's leading international news channel. It claims that its broadcasts are available in more than 400 million homes in 160 countries.
By moving its base from Lyon, France, to Brussels this year, the channel has cut almost 180 positions.
Launched in 1993 by some 20 European channels, Euronews originally broadcast from Lyon in 15 languages with an editorial team of 400 journalists.
Euronews journalists interviewed by Le Monde reported that they had no editorial influence on the coverage of events in Hungary, and the channel's coverage of European affairs did not appear to have changed, the newspaper said.
However, the unions point to advertising contracts signed with countries such as Azerbaijan or Saudi Arabia, claiming that they influence content. / BGNES
