Europe’s Top Court Overturns Hungary’s ‘Authoritarian’ NGO Law
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News reporting from Budapest, Hungary
(Worthy News) – The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that Hungary’s legislation requiring non-governmental organizations to reveal their foreign donors is against EU rules. The Luxemburg-based Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) condemned a law that forces NGOs receiving at least 7.2 million Hungarian forints ($23,000) to register with authorities.
They have to label themselves as a “foreign-funded organization” in a registry and on their website and publications. It also obliged then to list any foreign sponsors who give them more than 500,000 forints ($1,600) annually. The court said the measures violated the bloc’s fundamental rights.
Hungary’s law resembles legislation in Russia that describes several NGO’s and others as ‘foreign agents.’ “By imposing obligations of registration, declaration, and publication on certain categories of civil society organizations directly or indirectly receiving support from abroad … Hungary has “introduced discriminatory and unjustified restrictions with regard to both the organizations at issue and the persons granting them such support,” the CJEU stressed.
The Hungarian legislation is among several measures against what the government views as an unfair foreign influence. Right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán linked the alleged meddling to Budapest-born U.S. billionaire George Soros. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), a major advocacy group, said it expects Hungary’s government to ensure that “the 2017 Lex NGO [law] is repealed.” If it refuses to do so, it could face sanctions, including possible financial penalties and losing its voting rights within the EU, according to experts.
Márta Pardavi, the co-chair of HHC, told Worthy News that she is pleased with the ECJ’s decision. “It strongly asserts that marginalizing and intimidating NGOs that receive funding from abroad and obstructing their work is not accepted and is not lawful in the European Union.”
NGO OFFICES RAIDED
Police and other authorities raided several NGOs in recent years. “Today’s ruling is a victory not only for Hungarian civil society organizations, who have campaigned relentlessly against the law since its adoption three years ago. But,[it is also good for] European civil society as a whole,” Pardavi explained.
“It is a clear reaffirmation of the fundamental role played by civil society in a democracy, and curbing that with Russian-style laws is unlawful in the EU. We hope that Today’s judgment will put an end to this alarming trend in Hungary,” she added.
It also came as a victory to the EU’s executive European Commission, which had concluded previously that the law did not comply with EU laws. The Commission also said the legislation interfered with the freedom of association and restricted the free movement of capital.
It launched an infringement procedure and sent a letter of formal notification to the Hungarian government. After it found its answers insufficient, in December 2019, it referred the case to the European Court of Justice.
However, Hungary’s Justice Minister Judit Varga claimed the ruling did not provide “a single specific item of data or evidence,” showing the law was breaching EU principles. “It is a legitimate expectation on the part of society that non-governmental organizations operate transparently also as regards their funding,” she added in a statement.
BROADER EU CONCERNS
Thursday’s court decision is the second setback for Hungary’s increasingly autocratic prime minister within two months. In May, the ECJ condemned Hungary’s treatment of asylum seekers saying migrants seeking refuge were held in unlawful prison-like conditions. Soon after, Orbán’s government was forced to close down the notorious container camps at the nation’s borders with Serbia.
The CJEU cases also came amid broader EU concerns about Orbán’s governing style.
Since returning to power in 2010 with a parliamentary supermajority, his ruling party rewrote the Constitution, reshaped the country’s court system, changed electoral laws to favor the governing Fidesz party, and seized control of public and most private media outlets.
Hungary’s move towards what the opposition views as authoritarian rule has left critics with almost nowhere to turn at home.
The court in Luxembourg and other European Union institutions are among the few remaining avenues left to challenge the government in the EU nation.
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