Hungary passes stricter regulations on foreign-funded NGOs

Hungary‘s parliament approved on Tuesday strict new rules for non-government organisations with foreign funding in a further escalation of the government’s conflict with Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.

Defying calls from the European Parliament and human rights groups to drop the bill, it passed a law drafted by right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that requires NGOs that get money from abroad to register with the authorities.

The government says it wants to ensure greater transparency and protect Hungary from foreign influence, but NGOs and human rights groups say the bill stigmatises them and is intended to stifle independent voices in the central European country.

Orban, 54, has especially focused on NGOs funded by Soros, calling them a “mafia-like” network with paid political activists who posed a threat to national sovereignty.

His government recently passed a law tightening controls over foreign universities in Hungary, which critics say is aimed at the Central European University founded by Soros.

“It is of vital public interest that society and citizens clearly see what interests these organisations represent,” the NGO law’s authors said in their reasoning. “Foreign interest groups strive to take advantage of civil organisations.”

Orban, who plans to seek reelection in April 2018, has taken control of much of the Hungarian media, curbed the powers of the constitutional court and placed loyalists in top jobs at public institutions since coming to power in 2010.

Along with his tough anti-immigrant rhetoric, such attacks on Soros fit well with Orban’s political agenda. His Fidesz party has a firm lead over the opposition in opinion polls.

One of the NGOs affected, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), said that as a form of civil disobedience and legal tactic, it would not comply with the law and would take any legal challenge to international courts.

“The law is a targeted attack and attempt to silence TASZ and all other organisations which have the courage to help those who are oppressed,” it said in a statement.

TASZ receives large contributions from Soros’ Open Society Foundations, as does another human rights group, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, which also said it would boycott the law.

The laws regulating NGOs and foreign universities have triggered several mass protests in recent months in Hungary.

“Cosmetic” changes

Orban has gained notoriety in Europe as a maverick leader in contempt of a liberal capitalist West, extending his influence over the courts, dominating the media and forging close ties to Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country will build and finance a big new nuclear power plant in central Hungary, is expected to visit Hungary for the second time this year for a judo world championship in August, his third visit in as many years.

Critics have often seen parallels between Orban’s policies and Putin’s moves in cracking down on his own opposition.

The government last week backtracked on parts of the legislation to meet some of the objections from the Council of Europe’s advisory panel, the Venice Commission.

The rights panel said the term “organisation receiving support from abroad” in the bill appeared to be neutral. But considering Hungary‘s “strong political statements against associations receiving support from abroad, this label risks adversely affecting their legitimate activities,” it said.

However, Human Rights Watch (HRW) dismissed the amendments as “cosmetic”. It also said the government had failed to consult with civic groups before adopting the bill.

“The amendments do not remove the provision to stigmatize organizations as ‘foreign funded,’ nor the risk of an organization being legally dissolved by the courts if it does not register as ‘foreign funded’,” HRW said in a statement.

“The draft law is about silencing critical voices in society.”

Soros’s Open Society Foundations, which disburse funding to several prominent NGOs inHungary, warned on Monday that the law posed serious risks to democracy in the country.

The law “seeks to suppress democratic voices in Hungary just when the country needs them most. It attacks Hungarians who help fellow citizens challenge corruption and arbitrary power,” OSF director Goran Buldioski said.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution last month condemning Hungary for the “serious deterioration” in the rule of law and fundamental rights, and called on the government to withdraw the bill on foreign-funded NGOs.