Hungary’s transparency bill sparks fierce EU debate
The Hungarian bill on the transparency of public life contains provisions that raise concern, as they would impose restrictions on entities that could receive funding in the future, Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner responsible for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection, said in Brussels on Wednesday.
The European Parliament held a debate on the Hungarian bill on the first day of its two-day session, under the title The Hungarian government’s drift to Russia-style repression: legislative threats to freedom of expression and democratic participation.
McGrath said transparency was a very important value in a democracy, pointing out, at the same time, that transparency and accountability must not be abused to curb civil society or to curb fundamental freedom rights such as the freedom of expression and assembly. Civil society organisations and the independent press played a vital role in the system of democratic checks and balances, he said.
“I want to assure you that these developments have our full attention,” McGrath said. “The Commission is looking at them closely and will not hesitate to take steps as necessary to safeguard European Union law, including fundamental freedoms and fundamental rights under the Treaties and under our Charter.”
In his response, Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör accused the EC of having “established a money distribution system harking back to the US Agency for International Development”. He said they were funding liberal, leftist activist groups engaging in political activities, especially during elections.
Dömötör said the NGOs in question “sue governments protecting their borders, lobby against farmers on behalf of the EC, or prepare materials for smear campaigns about Hungary with the aim of withholding EU funding.” Further, he said “the big monies are also used to fund censors and media masquerading as fact-checkers, exclusively leftists and liberals.” The Hungarian bill aims to create transparency, in Hungary as well as in Brussels, Dömötör said.
Fidesz MEP András László said the EU “had the [Hungarian] transparency law withdrawn in 2017, which opened the door for the foreign interference in the 2022 elections.” László said leftist players had received 8 million dollars “from George Soros’s circles, and another 2 million dollars from a Swiss account.”
“The Biden administration announced a 35 million dollar USAID programme in 2022, with the express aim of funding political influencing in central Europe.” The new US government publicly admitted to the “politically motivated, corrupt and ideological nature” of those projects, he said. “Hungarians have had enough of foreign interference…” he said.
Tisza MEP Zoltán Tarr said the bill was “a failing regime hanging onto power”. “The new bill, the so-called transparency bill, is nothing but a Putinesque tool enabling Fidesz minions to brand anyone, journalists, civils or politicians as foreign agents arbitrarily and without probable cause,” he said.
The bill aims to silence critical voices and to intimidate, which would seriously put the freedom of elections at risk, he added.
Csaba Molnár of the Democratic Coalition said that Hungary was on its way to adopting a law similar to “Putin’s censorship law” to silence the media, civil organisations and the opposition. The law would allow a procedure against “anyone who contests Fidesz’s … far-right populist ideology”, he said.
Zsuzsanna Borvendég, an MEP of the Our Homeland party, said the EP was applying “typical double standards” with its reaction to a member state trying to ensure the transparency of public political players “and stop foreign influencing.” “The heightened protest of globalist forces shows that the bill is justified,” she said.
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