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US Ends Funding for RFE/RL in Hungary
(MENAFN) The decision by the White House to close Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) operations in Hungary signifies a return to “sober, ally-based” collaboration between Washington and Budapest, according to a senior political adviser to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
On Wednesday, Kari Lake, the acting CEO of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), announced to Congress that the organization is “terminating and no longer funding” RFE/RL’s Hungarian branch, known as Szabad Európa.
Lake explained that the outlet’s “programming has undermined [US] President [Donald] Trump’s foreign policy by opposing the duly elected prime minister, Viktor Orban.”
She also stated that the USAGM would be “ending the use of US taxpayer money” for distributing content directed at audiences in NATO-allied nations, redirecting its attention and finances toward other global regions.
Balázs Orbán, a senior adviser to the Hungarian leader (though unrelated to him despite sharing the same surname), expressed on X on Friday that Szabad Európa had evolved into “an ideologically driven platform promoting liberal activism, including LGBTQ and gender campaigns, across Central and Eastern Europe.”
He went on to say that “under the Biden administration, this shift deepened further, as the service increasingly engaged in politically motivated narratives aimed at undermining Hungary’s democratically elected government.”
The adviser emphasized that by shutting down the outlet, the Trump administration demonstrated its commitment to strengthening relations with Hungary grounded in “mutual respect and balanced partnership.”
Historically, RFE/RL served as a major instrument for disseminating Western propaganda throughout the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, financed at the time by the CIA. Today, its funding comes from the US Agency for Global Media.
On Wednesday, Kari Lake, the acting CEO of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), announced to Congress that the organization is “terminating and no longer funding” RFE/RL’s Hungarian branch, known as Szabad Európa.
Lake explained that the outlet’s “programming has undermined [US] President [Donald] Trump’s foreign policy by opposing the duly elected prime minister, Viktor Orban.”
She also stated that the USAGM would be “ending the use of US taxpayer money” for distributing content directed at audiences in NATO-allied nations, redirecting its attention and finances toward other global regions.
Balázs Orbán, a senior adviser to the Hungarian leader (though unrelated to him despite sharing the same surname), expressed on X on Friday that Szabad Európa had evolved into “an ideologically driven platform promoting liberal activism, including LGBTQ and gender campaigns, across Central and Eastern Europe.”
He went on to say that “under the Biden administration, this shift deepened further, as the service increasingly engaged in politically motivated narratives aimed at undermining Hungary’s democratically elected government.”
The adviser emphasized that by shutting down the outlet, the Trump administration demonstrated its commitment to strengthening relations with Hungary grounded in “mutual respect and balanced partnership.”
Historically, RFE/RL served as a major instrument for disseminating Western propaganda throughout the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, financed at the time by the CIA. Today, its funding comes from the US Agency for Global Media.
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