The Council’s decision could be an immediate freeze on European Commission funding for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government because of an alleged deviation from the rule of law.
As Euronews notes in this regard, a letter from 26 MEPs from five different political groups addressed to Budget Commissioner Peter Serafin and Commissioner for Democracy and Justice Michael McGrath was published last week.
The reason for the possible adoption of such urgent and radical measures on the part of Brussels was the draft law entitled “Transparency in Public Life”, introduced in the Hungarian Parliament on May 13. Brussels considers this document to be analogous to the “Foreigners Act” and fears that it will give the Hungarian government broad powers to suppress the press and critical opinions of citizens in society.
In contrast, Budapest believes that the bill is necessary to limit foreign funding of NGOs and media outlets and to discourage foreign interference in Hungary’s affairs.
The law would allow authorities to list foreign-funded NGOs and media outlets if the government deems them a threat to national sovereignty and freeze funding. Heavy fines are envisioned if funds continue to flow from foreign sources.
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party claims that foreign actors such as USAID funds and the European Commission are interfering in Hungarian politics by funding NGOs and media outlets.
“Ultimately, the Hungarian transparency law is not only a legal instrument but also a clear political statement: Hungarian democracy is accountable only to the Hungarian people,” Fidesz party MEPs Tamás Deutsch and Kinga Gál told reporters earlier this week.
According to the government, several million dollars in foreign funding was used by opposition politicians to campaign against the government in 2022. Speaking in Budapest after a recent European Parliament debate on Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó made it clear that the government is not willing to back down from the law.
“They are right to be concerned, but for the wrong reason,” he said. – “They should not be worried about the transparency law, but about foreign interference in the political life of an EU country.
