# Hungary exempts the KESMA media concentration from competition scrutiny

Date: 2018

On 5 December 2018 the government adopted 229/2018 (XII. 5.) declaring the [Central European Press and Media Foundation](/organizations/kesma)'s acquisition of Echo Hungária TV, Magyar Idők, New Wave Media Group, and Opus Press a concentration of national strategic importance, which took the merger outside ordinary competition review. The holding already grouped hundreds of titles. This Fact is that dated exemption. It is not the 2010 Media Council statute, not a later fine against one outlet, and not a personality. Official text is the government decree; AP's contemporaneous report is the independent file.

## People

- Viktor Orbán: https://factrail.ai/people/viktor-orban

## Drivers

- Media Freedom: https://factrail.ai/drivers/media-freedom
- Illiberal state capture in Hungary: https://factrail.ai/drivers/orban-illiberal-state-capture

## Sources

- https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/524bd8d4-33ba-4802-891f-d8959831ed5a_en?filename=2025+Rule+of+Law+Report+-+Country+Chapter+Hungary.pdf
- https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0324_EN.html

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/hu-kesma-exemption-2018