Telex not permitted to report from scene during Viktor Orbán's speech on national holiday

Only television stations with nationwide broadcasting rights will be allowed to cover this year's 15 March celebrations from close range, with all other media outlets – including Telex – only permitted outside the cordons. This was the answer we received from the State Secretariat for International Communication and Relations when we asked for information on how to register for the event and how to get one of our photographers accredited for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's speech on Saturday.

The State Secretariat explained that it is "due to limited seating" at the event, which starts at 10:30 on Saturday in the garden of the National Museum, that they are only able to grant access to crews of television stations with nationwide coverage. They added that we could, however, follow the program on the various platforms of the public media service, as well as the YouTube channel of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The rejection was not entirely unexpected, as this has been the norm in recent years. In 2023, the governing party held its 15 March commemoration in Sándor Petőfi's hometown, Kiskőrös. At that time, we were first told that we were welcome to attend the event without prior press registration. We found out upon arrival that the area around the stage was cordoned off and only guests with invitations were allowed in the audience. While the staff of the public broadcaster and Hír TV were allowed in, reporters from independent media were only allowed to follow the Prime Minister's speech from a considerable distance beyond the cordons. This was also the case in Veszprém on 23 October 2023, much to the satisfaction of Fidesz party director Gábor Kubatov.

But this isn't limited to state celebrations of national holidays: Telex generally has not been able to receive accreditation for Viktor Orbán's annual State of the Nation addresses either, the organizers usually citing lack of space as a reason for rejecting our request. And at the latest government briefing, there was no time for Telex's questions, just like at the Prime Minister's press conference held at the end of last year.