The president of the pseudo-independent National Association of Hungarian Journalists (MUOSZ) has written to opposition mayors, asking them to establish a common fund to support the so-called "independent" news portals of Hungary. MUOSZ has suggested that the fund should be financed from the municipalities budgets and supervised by the association, even though it goes against the association s basic rules of procedure.

Miklos Hargitai, president of the National Association of Hungarian Journalists (MUOSZ), has written a letter to the opposition-led municipalities requesting them to create a common fund, according to a document obtained by Hungarian news portal Origo.

Mr Hargitai proposes that opposition mayors make payments into a fund supervised by MUOSZ with a view to financing local opposition media outlets. The MUOSZ chief intends to create online portals in counties that lack what he described as  „independent” press. According to the association, launching the sceme would require around 50 million forints (over €150,000), which should be financed by the 50 opposition-led municipalities, withdrawing 1 million forints from their respective budgets.

In his letter, Mr Hargitai underlined that the fundraising is aimed at creating opposition publicity. His words, however, are in stark contrast with the fact that elsewhere in the letter he talks of an independent press, and he continuously confuses these two notions throughout, as Origo points out.