Hungary weighs bill to ban organizations seen as undermining national sovereignty

Hungary’s parliament, as of Wednesday, May 14, 2025, is debating a new bill that would grant the government sweeping powers to monitor, penalize, and potentially ban organizations deemed a threat to national sovereignty.

This is according to The Guardian.

Critics, especially from the opposition, argue that the legislation would effectively allow Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s administration to shut down all independent media outlets.

They also said non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in public discourse would not be spared.

The draft bill was submitted on Tuesday by a member of Orbán’s right-wing populist Fidesz party.

It supposedly aims to significantly expand the authority of the recently established Sovereignty Protection Office.

This office, already controversial, would reportedly be empowered to investigate and recommend punitive measures.

The measures would be against any organization it believes is using foreign funding to influence Hungary’s public life in a manner that threatens national sovereignty.

The legislation defines “threats to sovereignty” in extremely broad terms.

Actions that could fall under this label include:

• challenging Hungary’s constitutional identity,
• Christian cultural values, or traditional institutions such as marriage, family, and biological sex.

This expansive definition raises alarm among critics who warn it could be applied to silence a wide range of dissenting voices and civil society actors.

Given Fidesz’s two-thirds majority in parliament, the bill is expected to pass without significant resistance.

Its introduction follows a speech made by Orbán in February, in which he pledged to eliminate foreign-funded organizations from Hungarian public life.

He declared that such groups “have to be taken down” and that “their existence must be made legally impossible.”

The proposed law would grant the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO) the authority to access and inspect the financial records and documents.

The SPO would also have authority to access even electronic devices of organizations.

All of these accesses are granted them, as long as it finds these items problematic.

These groups would be barred from receiving tax-deductible donations.

It is supposedly a vital source of funding for many NGOs, and would require government authorization to accept any foreign contributions.

Furthermore, donors would have to submit declarations proving their contributions were not sourced from abroad.

Organizations found to have accepted foreign funding in a manner that allegedly threatens Hungary’s sovereignty could be fined up to 25 times the value of the funds received.

Non-payment within 15 days, or repeated violations, could result in forced dissolution of the organization.

The Hungarian government has defended the proposed law as necessary to protect the nation from external manipulation.

Government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács claimed the bill was introduced amid concerns that civil society groups and media outlets were being used by foreign entities to influence Hungary’s political landscape.

He posted on social media:

“Investigations and public disclosures in recent years have revealed that millions of dollars, primarily from American and Brussels-based entities, were funneled into Hungarian civil society groups and media outlets with clear ideological agendas.” 

Hungarian news site Telex reported that some of the foreign funding under scrutiny originates from the European Union itself.

Despite the government’s justification, the bill has provoked strong backlash from opposition figures.

Márton Tompos, warned that the legislation could be used to eliminate every independent media outlet and NGO involved in public affairs.

Tompos is the leader of the opposition Momentum party.

Since returning to power in 2010, Orbán has been steadily consolidating control over Hungarian institutions.

His administration now controls approximately 80% of the country’s media.

In 2017, it passed a law that forced NGOs receiving more than €24,000 in foreign funding to register with the courts and label themselves as foreign-funded in their publications.

That 2017 law was ruled discriminatory by the European Court of Justice in 2020.

Amnesty International at the time, described it as a “vicious and calculated assault on civil society.”

Despite this, the government continued to escalate its efforts, culminating in the 2023 creation of the Sovereignty Protection Office.

This office, which investigates organizations and media allegedly under foreign influence, has drawn comparisons to Russia’s notorious “foreign agent” law.

Such comparisons resurfaced on Wednesday.

Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony stated that the bill “follows the Russian playbook.”

On his part, independent MP Ákos Hadházy called it a further step toward the “Putinisation” of Hungary.

Hadházy linked the bill to a broader strategy by Fidesz to maintain power.

He further referenced a recent law banning LGBTQ+ public events as part of this pattern.

“We’ve said for weeks that the so-called ‘Pride law’ was only the beginning,” Hadházy wrote on social media.

“This is a process that could criminalize the entire independent press and NGO sector, and might even target politicians and parties.

“If anyone still thinks Fidesz wouldn’t go this far, it’s time to wake up.”

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