Hungary mayor forcibly removes Telex reporters from ruling party campaign event

Berlin, March 16, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Hungarian authorities to swiftly investigate the forcible removal of reporters Judit Presinszky and Nóra Siteri with the news site Telex from a campaign event, and to ensure that journalists can cover election-related events without intimidation or violence.

“Telex’s Judit Presinszky and Nóra Siteri being forcibly removed while reporting on a public campaign event marks a new low and is a deeply worrying signal about press freedom in Hungary,” said Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative. “Authorities must condemn such violence, make clear that the physical obstruction of journalists has no place in an EU member state, hold those responsible to account, and guarantee that journalists can report freely in the run-up to elections.”

On March 10, in the village of Csákberény in central Hungary, Mayor László Vécsei used physical force to remove Presinszky and her camera operator, Siteri, from a campaign event attended by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén ahead of the April 12 parliamentary elections. When the journalists entered the community center where the forum was about to start, the mayor grabbed Siteri’s camera to cover the lens and pushed the journalists, grabbing one of them by the arm. The incident happened after the two had interviewed local officials at the venue, including parliamentary candidate for the ruling Fidesz party Gábor Törő and Semjén. After the mayor forced them out, a member of the Polgárőrség, a nationwide network of legally recognized civilian volunteer guards, barred the journalists from re-entering the event. Telex said they have filed a criminal complaint.

According to a recent report by media watchdog Mérték and the Rule of Law Lab at New York University School of Law, the government has repeatedly denied independent journalists access to public events and press conferences, especially when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or cabinet ministers are present. In January 2025, police detained two reporters from Telex for hours outside a film studio near Budapest as they waited to question Orbán after being barred from asking questions at his yearly press conference.

CPJ emailed questions to the offices of Vécsei, Semjén, and the Polgárőrség, as well as the press department of the Hungarian police, but did not receive replies.