{"id":118698,"date":"2023-11-13T09:10:12","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T07:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/hungarian-plan-to-target-foreign-influence-fuels-ngo-and-media-fears\/"},"modified":"2023-11-13T09:10:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T07:10:12","slug":"hungarian-plan-to-target-foreign-influence-fuels-ngo-and-media-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/news\/hungarian-plan-to-target-foreign-influence-fuels-ngo-and-media-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungarian plan to target foreign influence fuels NGO and media fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <p>You are unauthorized to view this page.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\" method=\"post\" data-trp-original-action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118698\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"trp-form-language\" value=\"en\"\/><\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"smart_content_wrapper\">\nHungarian rights advocates have raised fears over new legislation that they say could put more pressure on independent media and civil society groups. The draft bill, which Hungary\u2019s ruling Fidesz party is expected to submit on Tuesday, is set to propose creating a new office tasked with investigating activities that threaten Hungary\u2019s \u201csovereignty\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The government has shared few details about its plans. But the Fidesz leadership has indicated that the new legislation could apply to foreign funding of political parties, and possibly also media outlets and civil society organisations that it has accused of operating under the influence of Washington and\/or Brussels. The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orb\u00e1n, who has spent more than a decade consolidating power and extending his party\u2019s influence over all aspects of public life, has long promoted the idea that foreign entities are meddling in Hungarian politics and that his critics are acting against the national interest.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, Hungary controversially approved an anti-NGO law, which the government argued was designed to ensure the transparency of groups receiving donations from abroad. The court of justice of the EU later ruled that the law violated Hungarians\u2019 rights. Despite the legal setbacks and international criticism, the prime minister has continued to argue that his domestic critics are controlled by external forces. \u201cThey have openly said that they wanted a change of government in Hungary. They have used every means of political corruption to finance the Hungarian opposition,\u201d Orb\u00e1n declared in a speech last summer.<\/p>\n<p>At a party meeting in September, the prime minister specifically complained about funding from abroad, citing civil society groups and media \u201cfinanced by Brussels or through the Soros network\u201d. Now, as Hungary enters campaign mode ahead of European parliament and municipal elections next year, Hungarian journalists and watchdog groups worry that the government could take another step in its campaign to silence critical voices.<\/p>\n<p>The leadership of Telex, one of Hungary\u2019s few remaining independent media outlets, recently issued a public warning that \u201cunder the guise of protecting sovereignty\u201d, Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government has \u201cdeclared war on the critical press\u201d. Rights advocates say the new legislation is part of a long-running process, as Orb\u00e1n works to solidify his control. \u201cThe idea of the sovereignty protection authority definitely fits a trend,\u201d said Stef\u00e1nia Kapronczay, director of strategy at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. \u201cAccepting foreign funding by political parties is already outlawed and there is good reasoning behind that,\u201d she said. \u201cOur well-founded fear is that this coming legislation will fit the stream of governmental actions seeking to limit participation in public life and the operation of the free press.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, she said, there is concern that the bill could further the government\u2019s narrative that any sort of foreign funding goes against Hungary\u2019s national interest. The Hungarian government did not respond to a request for comment. While experts have stressed that it is impossible to assess the impact of the new legislation until the full text is published, there is already nervousness. \u201cThis is the umpteenth legal threat against independent NGOs and independent media,\u201d said G\u00e1bor Poly\u00e1k, a Hungarian professor who specialises in media law and policy.<\/p>\n<p>But it is unclear, he said, whether \u201canother toothless lion will be born\u201d or whether Fidesz would take a \u201cPutinist\u201d approach. \u201cIf there really is a strong legal threat to foreign aid, it will essentially spell the end for independent media and civil society,\u201d Poly\u00e1k noted. \u201cWhat is certain is that there is an anxious expectation among journalists and civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Some critics say the sovereignty campaign is in part an effort to distract voters and that the office itself, if created, will have little significance. \u201cUsually Fidesz starts a diversion campaign when they want to distract people from real problems, like inflation, the condition our educational, healthcare and social service systems,\u201d said M\u00e1rton Tompos, a member of the Hungarian parliament from the opposition Momentum party. \u201cIf the government really wanted to start cracking down on issues that jeopardise Hungary\u2019s sovereignty,\u201d he added, \u201cthey should start with their own deals with Moscow and Beijing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/nov\/13\/hungary-plan-target-foreign-influence-ngo-media-fears-sovereignty\">The Guardian<\/a> <\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/vaufien\/hungarian-plan-to-target-foreign-influence-fuels-ngo-and-media-fears\/\">Hungarian plan to target foreign influence fuels NGO and media fears<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\">Vastuullisuusuutiset.fi<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1998,2214,10149,2394,4322,689,960,606,607,608],"class_list":["post-118698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-foreign","tag-hungary","tag-influence","tag-media","tag-ngo","tag-plan","tag-target","tag-vau_viikkokatsaus","tag-vauen","tag-vaufien"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}