Peeter Espak: Attempt to Orbanize ERR must be prevented

Historian and opinion leader Peeter Espak warns that the coalition parties' attempt to take control of the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council represents a direct bid to seize monopoly control over public media. According to Espak, the same administrative methods that Viktor Orbán employed in Hungary are being used to this end. He calls for societal resistance.

Peeter Espak has issued a sharp warning: the attempt by Estonian coalition parties and the circles behind them to seize control of the Estonian Public Broadcasting Council constitutes a threat to the independence of Estonia's public media.

According to Espak, this council takeover attempt must be viewed unambiguously as an attempt to establish monopoly control over ERR. Even more concerning in his view is the fact that the same administrative mechanisms are being used that Viktor Orbán employed in Hungary-a country where public media has by now become the mouthpiece of the government.

In Hungary, erosion of press freedom began precisely with government-aligned forces gradually taking over the management structures of public media organizations, replacing independent council members with loyal appointees. Espak sees a similar pattern unfolding in Estonia.

ERR is the foundation of Estonia's public broadcasting system, whose independence is guaranteed by law and whose mission is to serve the entire society, not individual political forces. The council's role is a supervisory function, which means its composition directly determines how independently the broadcaster can operate.

Espak emphasizes that preventing such an attempt is the task of Estonian society as a whole, not merely media circles. His call is unequivocal: resistance must be mounted against the Orbanization of public media before the process reaches the point of no return.