Hungary: The Guardian’s Flora Garamvölgyi Ousted From CPAC Event Mid-Interview – CFWIJ Condemns Attempts To Silence Press
Location: Hungary, Budapest
Date: May 5, 2023
Security removes The Guardian’s Flora Garamvölgyi from US conservative’s annual political event CPAC in Budapest, Hungary. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns attempts to muzzle critical press by denying them access. The American Conservative Union must allow journalists to report on their events.
On May 5, Flora Garamvölgyi was interviewing US Senator Rick Santorum at the US Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) event when she was interrupted by an organizer, pulled aside by security, and told to leave. Santorum was moved on to an interview with a Hungarian state media outlet.
“I was the only journalist not from state media, not from Hungarian state media, and not from pro-Orban Media, who was able to go in,” Garamvölgyi tells CFWIJ.
“They don’t want the free press to be at this event”
“I think the issue here is that they don't want the free press to be at this event,” says Garamvölgyi.
Garamvölgyi was granted access to report on CPAC weeks earlier. The journalist, who lives in the US, was traveling to Hungary when she received an email from organizers saying they could not admit her due to lack of space.
Several national and international press organizations received a similar email from CPAC.
“I was already sitting at the airport. So, what can I do? I'm going to go to Hungary, I'm going to go to the event, and then I will ask if I can go in or not because I traveled 14 hours for this,” says Garamvölgyi.
The journalist registered and entered the conference on Thursday, May 4th, without incident. She was also allowed to enter on Friday morning before being ousted from the event.
“The first day was fine. Nothing happened,” says Garamvölgyi, who live-tweeted the event and published a report for The Guardian the same day. “The next day, I also went in, and they checked our IDs again. They let me in again.”
Garamvölgyi, who was not given access to the event last year, noted that the only unusual part of her registration was that she was given a guest pass instead of a press pass.
Garamvölgyi has been covering transatlantic relations between Central Europe and the US for the Guardian for four years — a publication considered “fake news” by Orban supporters. As a Hungarian, she receives intense backlash from pro-government media and online trolls when she reports on her home country, the reporter tells CFWIJ.
“One time they took a screenshot of my private Facebook, and they put it on the evening news, which was pretty awful because, after that, I got a lot of hate comments,” Garamvölgyi recalls.
Another Hungarian state outlet claimed she was “too young” to know anything about politics. Garamvölgyi is thirty-four.
CPAC And The Press
This is the second year the American Conservative Union organized CPAC in Hungary — next to their annual Washington DC event — to drum up support for far-right issues and political parties in Europe.
Former President Donald Trump addressed the crowd in a pre-recorded video this year, listing freedom of speech as one of the virtues of the Right.
This year’s conference also included a video address from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been widely criticized for constraining media freedom in the country.
Before the Hungary conferences, CPAC allowed journalists to cover their events. But this year, the chair of CPAC, Matt Schlapp, said Hungary provided a model for dealing with journalists. He told the event’s organizers that his team “would determine who a journalist is.”
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns CPAC organizers for removing Flora Garamvölgyi and limiting access to the press. Promoting free speech while engaging in cynical ploys to obstruct critical journalists from covering the conference shows a blatant disregard for press freedom. We demand the American Conservative Union stop targeting media and allow journalists access to their events.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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