HUNGARIAN OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER CLOSES

Major Hungarian opposition newspaper to close after Orban victory.

BUDAPEST : One of Hungary's two national opposition dailies will shut down on Wednesday due to financial problems, its publisher said, in a sign of rapidly -

Deteriorating prospects for media freedom after the landslide re-election of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The closure of Magyar Nemzet will be a milestone in the gradual disappearances of independent media in Hungary that western European Union leaders and international rights groups say underlines the country's tide in authoritarianism.

The 80 years-old daily newspaper is owned by tycoon Lajos Simicaka, once an ally of the right-wing  nationalist prime minister who fell out with him and became one of the staunchest opponents in the election campaign.

Simicska's media holdings, once highly profitable, including, incurred heavy losses after he fell out with Orban and his publications were deprived of government advertising.

''Due to financing problems of Magyar Nemzet, the owners have decided to cease media content production activity from April 11, 2018.

Therefore Magyar Nemzet and its online version mno.hu. will close,'' the publisher said on in on its website. [Reuters]