Europe has other worries

There are two culpable parties in the  scandal at the Strassbourg Parliament: the criticised and the critics, writes the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, adding that both must moderate their tone in the interest of Europe: "It is ridiculous to claim Hungary is on the way to becoming a dictatorship. But neither should Orbán play along with the role intended for him – that of the black knight; not every critic of the media law is targeting Hungary's domestic politics and the conservatives' majority; many are simply concerned about press freedom, and that is not even one at the core of Europe's canon of values. The government in Budapest should not reject the Commission's desire for the law to be corrected as impudent interference but see it as a legitimate contribution. It's unfortunate that the EU presidency of Hungary, whose honour no one calls into question, has got off to such a start. It can't go on like this. All European protagonists must take an interest in preventing Hungary's presidency from going up in flames in the heat of the media dispute. It's not as if Europe didn't have other things to worry about."

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