The ALDE Group in the European Parliament expressed concern on Tuesday 13 June at the new Hungarian law on NGOs which receive funding from abroad, passed by the Hungarian parliament the same day. The new law strengthens the government’s control over such NGOs.
The European Commission expressed concerns at the end of April and the Council of Europe was also critical.
The law promoted by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was passed by 130 votes to 44, with 24 abstentions. It requires NGOs which receive foreign funding of more than €24,000 per year to provide a list of their main foreign financial sources of income and to describe themselves explicitly as “an organisation in receipt of foreign funding”. According to the media, it directly targets George Soros, the Hungarian-born financial magnate.
ALDE notes in a press release that the Polish government, too, had similarly brought in a raft of laws seeking to restrict the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression and calls for “EU action to protect the rights of civil society”. ALDE also proposes a plenary debate on the matter in the European Parliament in July. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)