Yesterday, at the request of Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog, Ferenc Szaniszló returned the Mihály Táncsics Prize.

The Minister asked for a report on the antecedents of the adjudication of the Award from the Minister of State for Culture. The report includes the minutes of the session of the prize committee, from which – in contrary to the false information that has appeared in the press – the only thing that transpires is that the committee recommended only one person for the Award. The minutes did not contain other information concerning the candidates.

Having become familiar with the contents of the report, and to ensure that similar mistakes may not occur in future, the Minister shall take the following measures:

•    the order of nomination and adjudication of mid-level artistic awards shall be amended

•    the Minister shall propose that the Mihály Táncsics Prize be awarded by an independent body, that is, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, and accordingly neither the Minister nor the Ministry shall qualify the work of political journalists.
The Minister entrusts the Minister of State for Culture with the execution of these measures.

(Ministry of Human Resources)