In an interview, Andrej Nosko practically admitted that foreign correspondents paint a completely distorted, false picture of Hungary and Poland. He believes one of the reasons for this is the recent deterioration in the quality standards of European media outlets, writes the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet.

Andrej Nosko, who received his PhD in Political Sciences from Central European University (CEU), became a director and then the number one division head of the Open Society Foundations (OSF). In this position, he oversaw the dispensation of one-third of the scholarship grants awarded to think tanks in the European division of the Open Society Initiative, with an annual budget of over 10 million dollars.

Magyar Nemzet has access to an interview with the former director of George Soros’s foundation, in which the reporter asks why several Central and Eastern European states, including Hungary and Poland, had become the focus of international media attention. Mr Nosko responds by saying that the reports on these countries are being distorted. He explains that

in his view, connecting the affairs of Hungary and Poland is not the most honest approach. The two countries, like the other states in the region, have their own problems, but they are all different. In the case of Poland and Hungary, for example, we see completely different leadership styles and economic structures, and the governments’ relationship with civil society is also different,

the Hungarian newspaper writes, citing Mr Nosko’s response in the interview. The former OSF chief goes on to say that the reports lumping these countries into one and receiving much attention are, in his view, linked to the recent decline in the quality of the European media. Mr Nosko illustrates this with an example:

there are far fewer foreign correspondents working in the mainstream media, especially those who cover the affairs of multiple countries. This, in turn, results in intellectual fatigue in the mainstream media, which also played a central role in the development of the aforementioned phenomeno. All this leads to a situation in which Poland and Hungary can be easily lambasted without listing any real arguments,

Andrej Nosko said, adding that he believed all of these reports were biased. OSF’s ex-director also mentioned that when he worked for the foundation and foreign correspondents asked for recommendations of people they could talk to, the biased staff recommended their own colleagues. They were referred to like-minded colleagues. Mr Nosko said that he himself had hired journalists to promote studies prepared by grant holders at various think tanks, revealing that the playing field was far from level. He also pointed to language difficulties, as something that also contributes to misinformation, because

many foreign journalists do not speak Hungarian and cannot interact with people in the street, nor can they read local news. „I say this based this on my own experience,” he said, adding that he has known many correspondents who could neither speak, nor read Hungarian. Drawing on secondary sources could produce strongly misleading information, for instance, regarding the legitimacy of Hungary’s government,

he said. He went on to note that reports typically fail to mention how popular the Hungarian government is with a significant part of society, adding that instead, they are likely to write about a government that restricts freedom in order to stay in power.

According to Magyar Nemzet, Andrej Nosko practically admitted that foreign correspondents paint a completely distorted, biased picture of Hungary and Poland. The paper points out that the pile of documents their editorial office had received is particularly interesting in light of a recent Spanish press report, which revealing how liberals had leveled coordinated attacks against both Poland and Hungary. Provoking rather strong reactions, the article quoted from private conversations and statements from former Spanish MEP Carolina Punset, who was active in the liberal ALDE group as a representative of Ciudadanos. This political formation was rebranded as Renew Europe after forming an alliance with Emmanuel Macron – currently, the Hungarian Momentum party is also in the ranks of this group. According to Ms Punset, it is not Hungary and Poland that pose a real threat to the freedom of expression, but rather the staunch advocates of political correctness in Brussels. In a series of private exchanges, the former MEP revealed that although Brussels repeatedly condemns Poland and Hungary, the main threats to the freedom of expression are being ignored in Europe.

If MEPs had truly adopted a principled position on freedom of expression, it would be necessary for them to stand up against the violent attacks on journalists and teachers. Instead, liberal MEPs are focusing their harshest attacks on places like Poland and Hungary, where freedom of expression is still being protected against the shackles of political correctness,

Magyar Nemzet writes, recalling the MEP’s chain of thought.