The Hungarian laboratory for limiting press and civic freedoms
The Hungarian parliament recently adopted a new law forcing NGOs to register as ‘‘foreign-supported organization” if they receive more than 24,000 Euros from foreign donors per year. With this legislation the Hungarian government and the ruling right-wing party, Fidesz, are following the path set by President Putin in Russia and President Erdogan in Turkey. The branding of NGOs as ‘foreign agents’ and “potential dangers to the country”, and the sustained attacks on them by the pro-government media, can be considered as a new milestone on the road to the “illiberal democracy” that was declared by Prime Minister and Fidesz leader Viktor Orbán in 2014.
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