Do not allow Orbán’s criminal mechanisms to silence the last independent media outlets in Serbia

Open Letter from Goran Ješić to Magyar Péter

Subject: Urgent initiative to freeze and review funds connected to Alpac Capital intended for the acquisition of independent media outlets in Serbia

Recipients:· Magyar Péter, Prime Minister of Hungary· Government of Hungary (Magyarország Kormánya)

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,Dear Members of the Government of Hungary,

We are addressing you on behalf of the Citizens’ Movement “Solidarnost” from Serbia with an urgent appeal to initiate a legal and financial review of funds from Hungarian state funds which, according to available investigations, have been connected to the investment group Alpac Capital, under the leadership of Pedro Vargas Santos David.

In August 2026, before the completion of the regulatory procedure before the Luxembourg authority ALIA, Alpac Capital assumed management positions in the companies comprising the Adria News Network in Serbia (N1, Nova S, Danas, Radar and affiliated media outlets). Pedro Vargas Santos David was registered as the legal representative with the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR), while the previous directors were dismissed. The transaction has not yet received the required approvals from European regulators.

Independent journalistic investigations (Direkt36, Le Monde, Expresso and others) have documented that Alpac Capital has, in previous years, used capital from the Hungarian state fund SZTA — at least €45 million in the case of the acquisition of Euronews — as well as funds connected to structures close to the former Hungarian government. These links raise legitimate concerns that similar mechanisms could be used in the current acquisition of media outlets in the Western Balkans, thereby threatening media pluralism and freedom of expression.

Welcoming your victory and the reforms aimed at dismantling corrupt and clientelist networks in Hungary, we appeal to you to take the following urgent steps:

1. Review and potential withdrawal of state fundsWe call on the Government of Hungary to instruct the state fund SZTA and related institutions to conduct a detailed review of all agreements and investments in funds managed or previously managed by Alpac Capital and, should any remaining state funds be identified, initiate proceedings for their withdrawal and investigate the legality of those agreements.

2. Protection of funds held in escrow accountsSince the funds intended for the acquisition of the Adria News Network are currently held in escrow accounts, and the transaction is awaiting approval from the Luxembourg regulator ALIA, we request that Hungary, within the scope of its legal powers, seek the temporary freezing of these funds pending the completion of an investigation into their origin.

3. Official notification to European regulatorsWe call on the Government of Hungary, as a member state of the European Union, to officially notify the independent Luxembourg regulatory authority ALIA and other competent European institutions that the funds intended for the acquisition of the Adria News Network are under review due to possible misuse of state resources from the previous period.

4. Request for transparent guarantees of editorial independenceRegardless of the outcome of the financial review, we call for the new owner to be required to provide clear, contractually guaranteed and verifiable measures protecting the editorial professionalism, objectivity and independence of the media outlets owned by Alpac Capital.

Mr. Magyar, the struggle for the rule of law and the liberation of institutions that you are leading in Hungary directly affects the future of democracy and freedom of speech in Serbia as well. We believe that you will not allow opaque mechanisms from the previous period to threaten the last significant islands of independent journalism in the Western Balkans.

We hope that you will respond urgently.

Yours sincerely,

Novi Sad,19 August 2026

Goran JešićCitizens’ Movement “Solidarnost”