The European Commission launched a legal probe on 13 July into Hungary’s NGO law, which targets, among others, civil society groups partly funded by Hungarian-US billionaire and philanthropist George Soros. The EU executive said that the requirements in the legislation for NGOs, which receive funding from foreign organisations, infringed upon EU rules. Hungary’s government has one month to answer with legal arguments. It has argued that the aim of the legislation is to guarantee transparency, to crack down on money laundering and on financing terrorism. But CSOs and critics dispute this claim, saying that the legislation only serves to stigmatise them, and intimidate critics of Orban’s government. The government accused the NGOs of being agents of Soros, who – they claim – wants to transport a million migrants into Hungary and Europe. More information is available here.
Source: EU Observer