The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and other international, regional and national organizations from across Europe, has addressed an Open Letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner Michael McGrath signed by over 320 organizations. The letter calls on them to take immediate action by utilising ongoing infringement proceedings and the Article 7 TEU process.
On 13 May 2025, a member of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, submitted a bill entitled ‘Transparency of Public Life’, which would enable the government to target, defund and dissolve any organisation it designates as “a threat to Hungarian sovereignty”. Labelled, “Operation Starve and Strangle” by civil society organisations.
“This bill effectively aims to dismantle the civil society and independent media in Hungary,” said Karolína Babická, Senior Legal Adviser at the ICJ. “If adopted, NGO or media funding from outside Hungary, including from the European Union, will be labelled as foreign interference. This proposal is yet another example of persistent violations of the values protected under Article 2 TEU by the current government of Hungary. We urge the Commission and the Council to act swiftly,” she added.
The bill, which was not open to public consultation, targets organisations along four main axes:
- Foreign funding targeted through extended powers of the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO): the bill would require the SPO to propose a list of organisations that use foreign funding to “influence public life”. The final list would then be decided by decree of the government. “Influencing public life” is not clearly defined and therefore fails to comply with the principle of legality, depriving organisations from the necessary precision to regulate their conduct and potentially exposing them to arbitrariness. Once listed, an organisation would only be able to accept foreign support with the prior authorisation of the competent authority.
- Exclusion from domestic funding: listed organisations would be barred from accessing the domestic 1% tax donation scheme. An additional burden would also be placed on all Hungarian donors, requiring them to secure two witnesses to confirm their funding is not from abroad.
- Misuse of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) provisions: the bill would make it mandatory for the Tax Authority and credit institutions to scrutinise every foreign funding transaction based on whether they anticipate the funding will be used to “influence public life.” It would also permit credit institutions to transfer foreign funding to the state-owned National Cooperation Fund. Managers of “excluded organisations” would fall under the category of “politically exposed persons” subjecting them to AML and terrorist financing laws despite not being required under European Union (EU) and global AML laws.
- Decisions without due process: each step raises serious due process concerns. The government would issue the list of the affected organisations in a normative act (decree) depriving them from judicial oversight and preventing them from seeking redress. The right to appeal other decisions under the law is significantly narrowed – including decisions such as freezing an organisation’s bank account or issuing bans that prevent listed organisations from further activities to “influence public life”.
The proposed bill is in clear violation the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The ICJ and more than 320 organizations have called on the European Commission to:
- Immediately request the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to grant interim measures in the ongoing infringement procedure on the Law on the Defence of National Sovereignty (Case C-829/24). Interim measures are designed to prevent irreparable harm — in this case, the effective paralysis of civil society organisations, independent media and dissenting voices. With this new development comprehensive interim measures should be requested immediately.
- At the same time, call on the Hungarian government to withdraw the bill and if unsuccessful, open a new infringement procedure on new violations that are not linked to the ongoing case on the Defence of National Sovereignty.
- With the forthcoming Article 7 hearing on Hungary on 27 May 2025 and recognising the escalation of a systematic breakdown of the rule of law, support the Council of the EU to move to a vote on Article 7(1).
Download
Read the full statement here.
Contacts
Karolína Babická, ICJ Senior Legal Advisor, karolina.babicka@icj.org
