Hungary: NGOs should reveal amount, aim of foreign funding

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary’s governing party says that it will propose legislation forcing non-governmental organizations reveal the source, amount and aim of foreign funding they receive.

Lajos Kosa, parliamentary faction leader of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, said Friday that the intention is to shed light on how the groups financed from abroad are trying to influence Hungary. Kosa said that draft legislation would be submitted to parliament next month.

Orban has repeatedly criticized groups funded at least in part by Hungarian-born financier and philanthropist George Soros, describing them as “foreign agents” seeking to undermine the authority of elected officials.

Corruption watchdog Transparency International’s local office, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee are those among named and targeted by the government for their activities.