The EU’s declared help for media freedom clashes with its actions in a “complicated” manner, Hungarian International Minister Peter Szijjarto has stated, commenting on the blacklisting of Russian journalists within the newest spherical of sanctions.

In an interview with RIA Novosti information company printed on Monday, the diplomat additionally stated the Hungarian authorities is criticized by Brussels for allegedly not defending the media.

“The one motive for this criticism is that in contrast to in each different a part of Europe, in Hungary the media is basically colourful. In the event you go searching in Europe, 98% of media is liberal, and the remaining are the others,” he claimed, whereas acknowledging that his phrases could also be “a small exaggeration.”

The international minister famous that in Hungary, the media is cut up roughly into two halves, between liberal and conservative shops, however the West and the liberal media think about that to indicate an absence of press freedom.

“So those that are judging us for media freedom, these are [the people] placing journalists on a sanctions checklist. For me it’s a bit complicated,” he concluded.

The tenth bundle of anti-Russian sanctions was adopted by the EU final week. It blacklisted Russian media organizations and people, in what the bloc described as focusing on “disinformation shops.” Amongst different issues, Brussels added RT Arabic to the checklist of channels banned from broadcasting within the EU.

Within the interview, Szijjarto additionally reiterated Hungary’s dedication to vetoing any makes an attempt to sanction the Russian nuclear business, and urged an intensive investigation into final yr’s sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which he referred to as a “terrorist assault” towards EU vitality infrastructure.

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