The editor-in-chief of Hungary’s leading independent news website has been fired a month after he publicly raised alarm over political interference in the outlet’s operations. The dismissal of Szabolcs Dull from his role at Index.hu on Wednesday appears to be yet another blow struck against news sources that do not support the far-right political line of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for a decade. The NGO Reporters Without Borders put Hungary in 89th place in its annual media freedom ratings this year, making it the second worst country in the EU for press freedom. Index, Hungary’s largest online news portal, is widely regarded as the last big independent player in local media. “Index is a mighty fortress that they want to blow up,” said Dull in a farewell speech to the newsroom, a video of which was published on the 444.hu news site. A pro-government businessman acquired significant control over Index’s funding this year. Last month Index put out an emergency alert to followers warning that its independence was at risk owing to external pressure. The website said it was changing its status from “independent” to “in danger”. On Wednesday afternoon more than 90 Index journalists signed an open letter, published on the portal’s website in Hungarian and English, in support of Dull. “This decision is unacceptable to us,” they wrote. “The reason for Dull’s dismissal was that he made it clear that he will not yield to blackmail.” Ágnes Urbán of Mérték, a media monitoring NGO, said it was not clear whether the move was down to a personal conflict or a political order. Either way, she described the firing as “a black day for Hungarian media freedom”. One estimate suggests that Index accounts for almost half the page views of all independent news outlets in Hungary. “It became an incredibly strong brand for a whole generation. When I ask my university students where they get political news from, most of them say Index in the first place,” said Urbán. László Bodolai, the chief of the foundation that owns the website’s publisher, denied that Index was being brought under political control, saying Dull was fired because he could not control internal tensions, causing a drop in advertising revenues. “The political independence of Index is not at risk,” he said in a letter to staff. This month Věra Jourová, the European commission’s vice-president for values and transparency, made a statement in support of Index. “Economic pressure should not turn into political pressure,” she said, noting the financial constraints faced by media outlets during the coronavirus pandemic. She said the values for which Index stood were “essential for democracy”. Orbán has frequently clashed with Brussels over his self-declared “illiberal” tendencies, which has led to an infringement procedure over erosion of the rule of law, including media freedom, in the country. This week Orbán managed to water down plans by a number of EU countries to link the future disbursal of EU funds to rule of law conditions.