Reporters Without Borders: press freedom in Hungary 3rd worst in the EU

This year was the 22nd time that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published its annual World Press Freedom Index, an annual report that examines how the state of press freedom has changed around the world. The ranking is based on five indicators: the political, economic, and the socio-cultural context, the legal framework and security. This year's analysis shows that the political indicator is the one that has worsened the most worldwide, falling 7.6 points on average globally and even affecting the top three.

According to the report, the political score dropped in Norway, while Ireland ceded its top spot in the European Union to Denmark. There was also a reshuffle at the bottom of the rankings, with the three Asian countries that were at the end of the list a year ago – Vietnam, China and North Korea – giving way to three countries where political scores have declined significantly, including Afghanistan, where journalists have been persecuted since the Taliban came to power; Syria; and Eritrea.

Hungary is 67th in the global ranking with 62.98 points.

Compared to last year's 72nd place, this means that Hungary has moved up five places, but the political indicator is still below 40 points, at 38.55.

One of the chapters in the report is titled European Union versus Orbanisation, detailing that despite the European Union passing its first law on media freedom and despite three European countries – Norway, Denmark and Sweden – still ranking at the top of the chart, several politicians are trying to reduce the leeway of independent journalism. Among the examples cited are Viktor Orbán, who is referred to as "Hungary's Kremlin-friendly Prime Minister", and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

According to the report, in the three worst-ranked countries in the EU, Hungary (67th), Malta (73rd) and Greece (88th), the ruling parties are putting press freedom to the test. They also note that Italy has dropped five places since Giorgia Meloni rose to power, and is currently the 46th.

The top ten in the global ranking are:

1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Sweden
4. Netherlands
5. Finland
6. Estonia
7. Portugal
8. Ireland
9. Switzerland
10. Germany