Page 13 - bne IntelliNews newspaper 14 July 2017

Central Europe
July 14, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
European Commission ratchets
up pressure on Hungary
The European Commission on July 13 stepped up pressure on Hungary over its NGO bill and higher education law. It has launched an infringement procedure against the government over the former and issued a reasoned opinion – the second phase of the infringement procedure – concerning the latter.
The government made cosmetic changes to the controversial bill targeted at foreign-funded NGOs after the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission said it imposed excessive obligations. Brussels waited for the opinion of an EU advisory body
on constitutional law before launching the infringement procedure.
The European Commission said the law “inter- feres unduly with fundamental rights, in particular the right to freedom of association and it intro- duces unjustified and disproportionate restrictions to the free movement of capital”. The law “does not strike a fair balance between transparency interests and the right of donors and beneficiaries to protect their personal data”, it added. The Hun- garian regulation could prevent NGOs from rais- ing funds and would restrict their ability to carry out their work, the Commission also stated.
The legislation requires NGOs to publicly declare funding sources and register with the government or face the prospect of dissolution. The amended legislation also keeps the discriminatory “foreign- funded organisation” label on NGOs receiving money from abroad.
Several NGOs, including Amnesty International (AI), the Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union have said they will boycott the new mandatory reporting rules. They said NGOs are already complying with the transparency requirements as the donations are listed on their homepages.
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The controversial legislation, which many see as reminiscent of Russian’s “foreign agents” law, reflects the conflict between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Hungarian-American financier and philanthropist George Soros.
The government has accused Soros of being a billionaire speculator promoting plans to force Hungary to accept the immigration of a million illegal immigrants into Europe. His ideal of an “open society” is at odds with Orban’s desire to turn Hungary into an “illiberal state”. The government sees NGOs as “foreign agents” working against Hungarian interests, especially those who support the rights of asylum-seekers, AI said.
Hungary was again in the news for all the wrong reasons this week because of government posters attacking Soros that were widely viewed as anti- semitic. The government is set to remove the posters this weekend, according to local media. Opposition parties said the government is backing down due to pressure as the campaign gives
off an unfavourable image of the country at a
time when Hungary is hosting events including the FINA World Championship for water sports and preparing for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanjahu's visit next week.
The Commission's “reasoned opinion” with respect to the higher education law amendments and compatibility with EU law is partly important because the legislation is widely perceived as specifically targeting the Central European University, founded by Soros, who also funds various liberal NGOs in Hungary.
Brussels said the education legislation “runs counter to the right of academic freedom, the right to education and the freedom to conduct a business".