The European Commission has demanded that Hungary withdraw a controversial draft law aiming to limit foreign funding of NGO’s and media organisations in a fresh political campaign against foreign interference.
Critics fear the draft Hungarian bill titled “Transparency of Public Life”, which was tabled in the Budapest parliament on 13 May, would offer the Hungarian government sweeping powers to crack down on the press and critical voices in civil society.
The law would enable authorities to register foreign-funded NGOs and media on a list, if the government sees them as a threat to national sovereignty, and freeze funding. Severe fines are envisaged where funds continue to flow from overseas sources.
A spokesperson at the Commission told Euronews that the executive is aware of the draft law and is following its evolution closely.
“The Commission has great concerns with this draft. If adopted as it is, it would constitute a serious breach of EU principles and law. Therefore, we ask that this draft be withdrawn from the legislative process,” the spokesperson said.
“We will not hesitate to take the necessary action if this draft is adopted,” the spokesperson said.
“The Commission places great importance on the role of civil society and remains committed to protecting the freedom of association and fostering an enabling environment for its work across the EU, including as regards access to funding,” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also recalled that last year the Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union because it considers the law establishing the Sovereignty Office and its investigative activities to be in breach of EU law.
This week a group of MEPs called on the Commission to freeze EU funding for Hungary with immediate effect because of alleged backsliding on rule of law by the government of Premier Viktor Orbán.
The letter, published on Tuesday, was addressed to European Commissioner for Budget Piotr Serafin and Commissioner for Democracy and Justice Michael McGrath and signed by 26 MEPs from five different political groups.
Euronews has contacted the Hungarian government for comment.
Hungary is not willing to back down on the law
The draft bill is part of Viktor Orbán’s self-styled ‘Spring Clean’ campaign, announced by the Prime Minister in March. The ruling Fidesz party maintains that foreign actors, such as USAID funds and the European Commission, interfere in Hungarian politics by financing NGOs and media organisations.
“Ultimately, Hungary’s transparency law is not just a legal instrument, but also a clear political statement: Hungarian democracy is accountable only to the Hungarian people,” Fidesz MEPS Tamás Deutsch and Kinga Gál told reporters earlier this week.
According to the government, in 2022, several million dollars of foreign funding was used by opposition politicians to campaign against the government. Talking in Budapest after a recent European Parliament debate on Hungary, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó made clear the government is unwilling to back down on the law.
“They’re right to be concerned, but for the wrong reason,” he said, adding: “They shouldn’t worry about the transparency law, but about foreign interference in the political life of an EU country.”
MEPs and NGOs demand action on the draft
Last weekend, tens of thousands of Hungarians protested over the draft on the streets of Budapest. On Wednesday, the European Parliament staged a debate on the latest developments related to the rule of law in Hungary. Many MEPs called for action from the European Commission. Talking to Euronews, the Hungary rapporteur of the European Parliament, Tineke Strik, said the law was a “copy paste of Russia’s foreign agents law”. She said that the European Court of Justice could annul the law if it is adopted.
“The European Commission cannot suspend the law, but the European Commission can immediately go to the Court of Justice and ask the Court to immediately take a measure to suspend this, because there is an ongoing procedure already about the Sovereignty Protection Law of a time ago and the Court is looking at this case,” Strik said.
“But what the Commission can do is say, look, there’s an urgency here, so I ask you to take an interim measure to avoid any irreversible harm from being done,” the Dutch MEP added..
More than 80 newspapers and media organisations across the European Union have signed a letter protesting against the law, saying it will further limit the freedom of expression in Hungary.
And on Thursday, 320 civil society organisations published a letter calling on the European Commission to take immediate action. They called on President von der Leyen to immediately request the Court of Justice of the European Union to grant interim measures in the ongoing infringement procedure, to publicly urge the Hungarian government to withdraw the bill, and to open a new infringement procedure, in case Hungary refuses requests to do so.
EU ministers are slated to discuss the potential use of the bloc’s Article 7 sanctions regime in the context of alleged backsliding on the rule of law in Hungary when they meet on Tuesday for a General Affairs Council in Brussels.
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