ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
It is Hungary's turn at the rotating helm of the European Union presidency, and already, things are off to a rough start.
Hungary's government has managed to outrage some EU member states, pro-democracy advocates and others. At issue are several measures that critics say represent a dangerous erosion of democratic principles and a lurch toward autocratic rule.
From Budapest, NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.
ERIC WESTERVELT: In a snow-dusted park in central Budapest, tourists snap photos of the beautiful neo-Gothic parliament building as EU flags hang together with Hungary's.
This is a proud time for Hungary as it takes over the rotating EU presidency, yet some Hungarians are worried that many of the very values the country is expected to uphold as an EU member and as president are now under threat.
Mr. GABOR HORVATH (Deputy Editor, Nepszabadsag): The law provides total control to the government over all the media, both public and private.
WESTERVELT: Gabor Horvath is deputy editor of the daily Nepszabadsag, the largest circulation broadsheet in Hungary. The new package of media laws created by Prime Minister Victor Orban's conservative government allows Hungary's five-person Media Council, all loyalists of Orban's ruling Fidesz Party, to impose big fines on all news outlets if the board deems reporting is unbalanced or violates a host of vaguely defined terms such as public morality.
Newspapers can be docked the equivalent of half-a-million dollars per violation. Editor Horvath likens the laws to a bully with a baseball bat standing over the news desk.
Mr. HORVATH: And he says that, you know, I can smash your head, but I'm a good guy. I'm not going to do that. Now, what would you feel? All the guarantee we are having is them saying that they are nice guys. I'm not buying that.
WESTERVELT: The paper has run several blank front pages in protest. The laws have sparked international outrage and a European Commission inquiry, while the Organization of Security Cooperation in Europe called the government media council's regulatory power unprecedented in European democracies.
Gyorgy Ocsko, the legal chief of the new Media Council, insists Hungary's post-communist media need reining in, but he says the country will consider changes to the law if the EU says it's necessary.
Mr. GYORGY OCSKO (Chief, Media Council): This unfettered press freedom, it yielded some negative fruit, as well. So...
WESTERVELT: But won't this act have a huge chilling effect on journalists in Hungary?
Mr. OCSKO: I hope not. But if it is in violation of international and democratic standards, then it should be modified. If not, then this law will prevail.
WESTERVELT: In recent days, Prime Minister Orban has signaled a potential retreat on this controversy, saying he would consider changes but won't be forced into it.
The EU has also launched an inquiry into the legality of new taxes aimed mostly at foreign companies. All this is happening just as Hungary takes over the EU presidency.
Mr. LASZLO KOVACS (Former Commissioner, European Union): The rotating presidency is the one who is the face of the European Union for six months. And it's not a very beautiful face today.
WESTERVELT: Laszlo Kovacs is a former EU commissioner and member of the Hungarian parliament with the opposition Socialists. He charges that with its solid two-thirds majority in parliament, Orban's Fidesz Party has also threatened the independence of the judiciary and rammed through changes to the constitution.
When the constitutional court opposed Orban's plan to nationalize some pension funds, Orban and his party quickly eliminated the high court's power to rule on financial matters.
Mr. KOVACS: So one hour later, they presented a draft bill which curtailed the competence of the constitutional court. It was a very brutal, primitive answer to a concrete decision, a judgment of the constitutional court.
De jure it is certainly a multi-party system. De facto, it is getting closer to a one-party system.
WESTERVELT: This weekend a group of prominent European former anti-communist dissidents said Orban's concentration of power is threatening Hungary's young democracy. They appealed to the EU for help.
In an open letter, the former dissidents warned that Hungary's government, though elected democratically, is misusing its legislative majority to dismantle democracy's fundamental checks and balances.
Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Budapest.