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November 24, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
ian intelligence services will start an investigation means there is a danger that not only organisa- tions but individual leaders will be persecuted," Soros told the Financial Times.
“It’s a tragedy for Hungary that its government seeks to stay in power through hate-mongering and misleading the population,” he added.
On his website Soros denies point by point the claims formulated by the government. “State- ments in the national consultation contain distor- tions and outright lies that deliberately mislead Hungarians about George Soros’s views on mi- grants and refugees" the rebuttal says.
The government based its campaign against what it calls the Soros plan on two articles published by the philanthropist. In a 2015 opinion piece, he said that because of the war in Syria, the EU would have to “accept at least a million asylum-seekers annually for the foreseeable future. But a year later, when circumstances had changed, he sug- gested that the EU should make a “commitment to admit even a mere 300,000 refugees annually".
Soros also rebutted claims that he is planning
to dismantle border fences, including the one in Hungary to open the borders, as he in of the view that the EU must regain control of its borders.
Citing his articles, Soros refutes the Orban cabinet’s claims that he is advocating the EU-wide relocation of migrants, as he has endorsed
“a voluntary matching mechanism”. Unlike claims made by the government, Soros did not say that Hungary should be forced to pay HUF9mn in
welfare to all immigrants. The sixth point of the questionnaire states that Soros wants milder criminal sentences for the crimes committed by migrants, which is a lie, according to the georgesoros.com website.
It is also part of the Soros plan to initiate politi- cal attacks against those countries which oppose immigration and to severely punish them, the government claims in the national consultation. “Nowhere has Soros made any such statement. This is a lie”, Soros said on his website.
Soros established his foundation in Hungary
in 1994 and since then has donated roughly €350mn in scholarships, health care services, and humanitarian efforts. Soros has also supported opposition parties before the change of regime
in 1990, including Orban’s fledgling liberal party, Fidesz. Soros told the FT: “It’s really Orban who has changed, from being a leader of the rebellion against the then-prevailing regime to having converted into the leader of a mafia state.”
The governments hastily approved legislation
of the higher education act in the spring was
also widely perceived as specifically targeting
the Central European University, which was founded by Soros in 1991. Similarly, the controversial NGO law was approved by the governing parties with the explicit aim of impeding the operations of various liberal civil groups in Hungary receiving financing from Soros, amongst others. Since then parliament made minor amendments to the NGO law after the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Hungary in July.
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