Right-wing Brussels news portal run with Hungarian taxpayer money

In less than three years, the publisher of the Brussels-based news portal The European Conservative has received HUF 1.6 billion (EUR 4.2 million) from a Hungarian foundation, Szabad Európa found. The publisher of the English-language conservative political journal, European Conservative Nkft., is registered in Budapest. Its editor-in-chief is Alvino-Mario Fantini.

According to Szabad Európa, some of the money received by the publisher from the publicly funded Lajos Batthyány Foundation (BLA) was given for specific purposes other than the journal’s operating expenses. These included the launch of a continuous online news service on the magazine’s website and the rent of an office in Brussels.

In return, the publisher promised that European Conservative would become “the leading European news portal” and help build European conservative communities.

Szabad Európa learnt that a group of European right-wing political philosophers used to run an internal newsletter under the same name. András Lánczi, former chairman of the board of trustees of Századvég, a think tank close to Fidesz, and now a trustee of the pro-government Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), was also included.

The article adds that BLA was previously a private foundation with Fidesz ties, 24.hu writes based on Szabad Európa. And, from 2015 onwards it received increasing amounts of state funding. First through the Prime Minister’s Office and then through the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office. In 2021, a new law moved BLA into the category of public interest trusts, which perform public functions independently of the government and must be funded from public funds. This year alone, the BLA received more than HUF 9 billion (EUR 23.7 million) in public funding.

If you wish to read a story about PM Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law receiving a fortune from Hungary’s 7th richest man, click HERE.

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