Hungary’s parliament parties discuss NGO transparency bill

Budapest, April 5 (MTI) – Hungary’s five parliamentary parties met on Wednesday to discuss a bill drafted by ruling Fidesz that would require civil groups receiving foreign donations above a certain threshold to register as organisations funded from abroad.

Fidesz deputy group leader Gergely Gulyás said after the talks that experiences over the past two years showed the importance of unveiling the financing of civil organisations with foreign donors so that “Hungary can protect itself”.

Under Fidesz’s bill, non-governmental organisations receiving more than 7.2 million forints (EUR 23,300) from foreign donors would have to register as foreign-backed groups, Gulyás said. The party plans to submit the bill to parliament later this week, he added.

Gulyás said civil groups supported by Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros were “ramping up their attacks against Hungary” with a view to dismantling its border protection system and forcing the free flow of migrants into the country. Gulyás accused the NGOs of having encouraged — either covertly or openly — the violation of Hungary’s laws. He insisted it was crucial that the backers of NGOs are made public regardless of whether an organisation gets funding “from Soros, Russia or an EU member”.

The opposition Socialist Party, Jobbik and LMP all rejected the bill.

Socialist politician Gergely Bárándy said his party rejected any proposal that serves as a tool for discriminating or attacking civil groups. He branded the bill as being part of measures aimed at repeatedly “hassling” civil organisations that represent a position different from that of the government.