Hungary paper pledges support for embattled competitor

Nepszabadsag journalists set up a temporary newsroom after their paper was unexpectedly shut down on Saturday

A Hungarian newspaper has offered a platform to journalists from a competitor publication after it was shut down over the weekend, in a show of solidarity over alleged government interference.

The right-of-centre Magyar Nemzet said on Wednesday that it would make space available for journalists from centre-left daily Nepszabadsag, "with the aim of making the dissemination of diverse information possible".

When Nepszabadsag's publisher closed it down suddenly on Saturday, it was widely suggested in the media and opposition ranks that it had acted on government orders, although its owners blamed declining sales. Nepszabadsag is independent, but tends to support the left-leaning political opposition.

Magyar Nemzet's owner, media oligarch Lajos Simicska, was once a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, but last year the two men had a spectacular falling-out over government plans for an advertising tax. Mr Simicska declared "a total media war", and since then his outlets have often been sharply critical of the government.

The newspaper's statement of support also refers to two of Mr Simicska's other media holdings. "The editorial office of Magyar Nemzet, Hir Television, and Lanchid Radio offer to provide space and airtime to Nepszabadsag's creative community who have run into trouble - if they request this - for the publication and dissemination of those articles and items which cannot be printed because of the suspension of the newspaper," it says.

But support hasn't only come from domestic outlets. Slovak daily DennikN declared its solidarity too, publishing a large message in Hungarian reading: "We're with you, Nepszabadsag!"

Nepszabadsag's publisher says the paper has been suspended pending the creation of a new business model, but that's been met with scepticism by many in Hungary, and openly mocked by the satirical Two Tailed Dog Party.

It created a spoof of what the re-launched paper could look like. "Everything's fine at the Hungarian National Bank," reads one headline, in reference to Nepszabadsag's expose of corruption there. It also lampoons the government's anti-immigrant stance: "74 million illegal immigrants set off for Hungary just in the last half-hour," one spoof story begins, while another says: "Migrants at the Bicske refugee camp are eating the Bible."

Nepszabadsag recently uncovered a scandal regarding the extravagant travel habits of a government minister - a story that featured on its final front page.

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