On Friday Head of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister Antal Rogán told Hungarian television channel TV2 in its morning show Mokka that Magyar Telekom abused its powers being a large company with lots of money and influence when it terminated its sponsorship contract with pop singer Ákos Kovács.

Mr. Rogán said that the government's move was a symbolic gesture to all Hungarian citizens, signalling that such moves are not without consequences and must be carefully considered. He said that Magyar Telekom (MT) had acted unconstitutionally, violating freedom of opinion and speech by withdrawing funding based merely on a disagreement with someone's opinion.

He noted, however, that the government's response is only symbolic as mobile internet contracts account for just 0.1 percent of revenue from MT's government contracts. "MT will not lose too much money as a result”, Mr. Rogán said.

No multinational company can allow itself to do something like that because of a "media hype", he said. It is obvious to any open-minded person that Hungary's constitution respects women and allows their positive discrimination. The government's family policy also supports women at work, women finding employment "before and after giving birth".

On Thursday Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács announced that the government had instructed its ministries to cancel their mobile internet contracts with MT in response to the move.

(MTI)