The Hungarian-language service of Radio Free Europe (RFE) announced on Friday, November 21, in a brief, three-paragraph message posted on its website, that it was “ceasing its activities” and “thanking readers for their visits.” Known as Szabad Europa, this news site funded by the US Congress was deliberately shut down by the Trump administration in an effort to appease nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, just months before elections set for April 2026 in the Central European country.

Szabad Europa “undermined President Trump’s foreign policy by opposing the duly elected Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban,” criticized Kari Lake, director of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the organization overseeing Radio Free Europe, at the beginning of November, as she announced she had decided “to halt funding.” A close ally of Trump, Lake revealed her decision on the eve of Orban’s visit to the White House.

Orban and Trump have maintained warm relations, and during a 2023 trip to Hungary, Lake herself expressed her admiration for the Hungarian leader by attacking “the media that criticize him and call him racist.” Radio Free Europe, which rose to prominence during the Cold War for spreading American soft power beyond the Iron Curtain, remains very active in Central and Eastern Europe, now primarily through its websites.

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