Journalist and activist Zsolt Bayer, who is best known for his xenophobic views and close ties to the ruling party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, was awarded with the Knight's Cross, the third highest state medal in August 2016. In response, numerous leading intellectuals returned their awards as a sign of protest.
However, László Majtényi, chair of Eötvös Károly Policy Institute previously declared that he would not return his award based on the fact that the current government and regime is not continuous with the one in which he received this honour.
László Majtényi’s full essay is currently available only in Hungarian.
