It’s the posters vilifying George Soros, the Hungarian-born philanthropist and financier that catch the eye. Every few kilometers along the bus route from the Budapest airport to the city center, there are big billboards warning Hungarians about how Soros wants to swamp the country with refugees and migrants.
Judy Dempsey
More from this author...This campaign against Soros is linked to the unremitting crackdown on nongovernmental organizations. A new law, passed during the summer by the Hungarian parliament and remarkably similar to Russian legislation, stipulated that any foundation or association that receives any type of foreign funding in excess of €24,000 (or $26,000) must register “as a foreign-supported organization.” What followed was a widespread campaign to discredit opposition politicians and activists with the implication that they posed a national security risk.
As if that was not enough, in a televised interview on October 27, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said, “by employing the national security services, the Soros network that strives to influence European life should be exposed.” And, he continued: “Another question is who are these Hungarians who are participating in this process from here, within Hungary?” It almost sounded like a witch hunt. A day earlier, János Lázár, who heads Orbán’s office, said the domestic and foreign security services would monitor these networks.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and many other nongovernmental organizations have come under increasing pressure by the government.
During a recent conference in Budapest organized by the Hungarian Europe Society that I was invited to, Màrta Pardavi, the co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, gave a detailed and dispassionate account of how the space for independent activities is decreasing. The fourteen-page report makes depressing reading. Pardavi and her colleagues describe what has been taking place in Hungary over the past few years. It should be remembered that attempts to narrow the space for civil society began before the refugee crisis—soon after Orbán was elected in 2010.
In Poland, that space—while still much bigger compared to Hungary—is also being challenged. Similar to Hungary, the independent media and journalists are under pressure. Organizations in Poland that try to protect women against domestic violence have been ransacked by the security services. From November, all Polish nongovernmental organizations will be centrally funded. The implications are clear. They will not be independent. Checks and balances will be weakened. The judiciary has already been reined in.
The Polish economy, similar to Hungary’s, has not been spared. The government in Warsaw has replaced many of the managers of the state-owned enterprises with their own supporters. In Hungary, the economy is mutating toward a mafia state, according to Bálint Magyar, a sociologist, former education minister, and former state secretary for development policy. The scope for systemic corruption has increased.
To protect these spaces, the EU could do much more.
For one thing, OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office, could go public in explaining what has happened to the development and structural funds that EU taxpayers have allotted to Hungary. As it is, Hungary ranks third, after Romania and Poland, in the number of investigations about how EU funds are used. But such inquiries depend on the cooperation of local police authorities. And just so that Hungary and Poland will not plead that they are being victimized or singled out by OLAF, the anti-fraud office could be far more outspoken about the misuse of funds in other EU member states.
Second, and again related to the European structural funds that amount to almost 3 percent of gross domestic product for both Hungary and Poland: if the procurement rules lack so much transparency and genuine competitive tenders, why doesn’t the EU suspend the funds? After all, the lack of transparency increases the wealth of Hungary’s oligarchs.
Third, civil society spaces need independent, nonpartisan information. If the EU believes in what it preaches about a free and independent media, then it should channel funds to outlets that will give viewers and listeners not an alternative view as such but information based on facts. No doubt Budapest and Warsaw would balk at this by claiming that the EU is interfering, to quote an old communist slogan, “in the internal affairs of another country.”
Fourth, the European People’s Party that groups together the conservative political parties throughout the EU should suspend Fidesz’s membership. It is true that several EU member states support Orbán’s anti-refugee stance. But that is not the real issue. The real issue is about how Orbán and his governing party are eroding democracy in order to remain in power. Poland’s Law and Justice party, led by Jarosław Kaczyński, is pursuing the same goal. If they succeed, the EU may as well wash its hands of its values.
Comments(12)
Sounds like a good country to go and live, a county where the leader puts the people who contribute to their country first.
Hungary and Poland are strong enough in their leadership to stop the insane diktat of Merkel's migratory policies. They are trying to safeguard European values and for that, they are ostracized by the EU which is fast becoming a dictatorship.
1. " the EU is interfering, to quote an old communist slogan, “in the internal affairs of another country.”" It is not a communist slogan but a clear rule of International Law. 2. "OLAF, the anti-fraud office could be far more outspoken about the misuse of funds in other EU member states." Extremely difficult to tackle the main corruption-spreading country (Germany). Remember: Siemens escaped judiciary control in Greece since Germany did not extradite a German citizen of dual citizenship key-person regarding bribes to local politicians and mafiosi. Furthermore, to consider that OLAF is going to tackle and tear down a very fruitful business among EU bureaucrats, local (national) authorities and mainly German MNCs, seems like a joke at least to Greeks. 3. Principles and democratic values have nothing to do with the EU - they are protected by the Council of Europe whilst the EU is relentlessly undermining them. The Hellenic experience speaks of itself.
#1. Balint Magyar is not a person of reputable stature or significance. #2. Stopping foreigners from influencing elections and society is not new, nor is asking security services to investigate them. This happens in every country, including those far and near from Hungary. Latvia does the same to keep Russia from interfering in it's election. Israel does the same to keep Arab states and wealthy from interfering in it's elections. Even the U.S. has a special investigator investigating possible foreign influence on civil society and politics. To say that Hungary is doing anything differently, or that the government shouldn't monitor who with money from outside the country is influencing society and even poses a national security risk to society is absurd.
Re: "A new law, passed during the summer by the Hungarian parliament and remarkably similar to Russian legislation". Actually, its modelled on the Israeli NGO law of 2016. The two countries need the same law for the same reasons.
Well Judy, this is no different from America's reaction to allegations of Russia interference in its politics. Nobody likes foreign interests interfering in a country's political process, in order to push for their own interests. In the US, they are now arresting people. In Hungary, they are only insisting that there is NGO transparency in regards to their funding, so people can be aware what their agenda is. Since when is transparency "anti-democratic"? So when are you going to write a piece about how the US is "obstructing" democracy through its Rusophobic witch-hunt?
One issue here is the near unlimited powers of sovereign governments to steal huge amounts of national and international money. Both public and private funds. The organisation responsible for overseeing global finance has repeatedly prevented the effective audit of states. Until the G20 [or should it be the G2?] relents, the theft will continue. In the meantime, the EU could of course tighten its rules. A matter for the Brexit negotiations? Incidentally the theft is likely to get worse as states in the west get nearer to default.
Can you provide examples how Polish media is persecuted since 80% is German owned How much German media is Polish owned Also who is funding these Polish organizations can you list all foreign sources Author please educate your audience with FACTS
I will help You Judy with this one. The Public Prosecutor has started a criminal probe against journalists who wrote about SKOK scandal. A note of explanation, SKOK is a saving institution set up by one of PIS (Kaczynski’s party) Senators, Grzegorz Bierecki, a close friend of our General Prosecutor, Mr. Ziorbo . SKOK went bankrupt leaving Polish people to pay as much as 6.5 mld PL (so far) from our Polish Financial Supervision Authority (a sort of security against bad debts, paid by all bank customers). Another example, Wojciech Dąbrowski journalist form Polish Radio was fired after asking PM ‘inconvenient’ questions.
Politicians should be elected. Soros' NGOs are highly political. Soros acted at the outset of Poland's transition to place the majority of Polish industry in foreign hands, thereby cursing to Poland to a path of underdevelopment. Soros' support of the Communist-era judiciary is immoral - as is his hiring of the head of the Constitutional Tribunal Rzeplinski. I know this can't pass through the moderator - you're too scared of the truth - so I am heartily glad to see your propaganda campaign is failing to change minds.
As a British guy, I only wish our politicians would have the same respect for local culture as Hungary’s politicians do. My personal opinion is that if Europe/Merkel didn’t have the devastating Muslim migrant policy, there would be no Brexit. Well done Hungary, stay strong.
Wow...propaganda. Glad everyone is waking up.
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