Hungary passes contested laws against foreign influence

Hungary's parliament on Tuesday (12 December) passed a package of laws to curb foreign influence, which critics fear could be used to crack down on dissent against nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government.

The "defence of national sovereignty" law package is seen as the latest attempt by Orbán to silence critical voices ahead of next year's European Parliament and local elections.

The laws were adopted by a large majority in parliament which is dominated by Orbán's Fidesz party, according to the parliament's website.

The laws, which will take effect on 1 February next year, criminalise foreign funding of election campaigns and establish a new Sovereignty Protection Office with broad investigative powers.

The head of the agency will be nominated by the prime minister with powers to "identify and investigate organisations that receive funding from abroad... aimed at influencing the will of voters".

The new agency would not have the power to sanction NGOs on its own, but could pass on information to authorities.

It would also release an annual "sovereignty report" and make recommendations.

Any candidate standing for election that accepts foreign funding could face up to three years in prison.

The ruling Fidesz party argues the legislative changes will "close a loophole" of "electoral trickery".

But they have drawn criticism at home and abroad.

The Council of Europe in November called on Hungary to abandon the bill, which "poses a significant risk to human rights".

Prominent rights groups, including Amnesty International Hungary, have said the package of laws "serves to protect the arbitrary exercise of power".

They fear the new authority could target rights groups, journalists, companies, churches, trade unions and municipalities, who lack legal recourse against any investigation or procedure against them.

America's envoy to Budapest David Pressman said the law "made Moscow's foreign agent law look mild and meek".

"When the government proposes to create a new domestic security agency, armed with unfettered and unchecked investigative powers... it is alarming," he said in remarks earlier this month.

'Manipulation of electoral rules'

On Tuesday evening, the parliament also voted heavily in favour of an overhaul of electoral rules for Budapest, which critics say is designed to allow Fidesz to gain a foothold in the capital, held by the opposition since 2019.

Since coming to power in 2010, Orbán has been accused of reshaping the electoral system to his advantage through a series of institutional reforms, including redrawing constituency boundaries.

Tuesday's reforms will now see Budapest council members elected by proportional representation, a move that will favour strong parties to the detriment of a highly fragmented opposition.

Budapest's liberal mayor Gergely Karácsony condemned the change as a "manipulation of electoral rules" just a few months before municipal elections.

Hungary is a member of the 27-nation European Union but Orbán regularly clashes with fellow members, not only on migration but also on issues such as the independence of the media and the courts, and LGBTQ rights.

Orbán and his allies have often accused political opponents, NGOs and media outlets of serving foreign interests.

In 2017, governing parties passed a similar law targeting NGOs receiving foreign funding, but had to repeal it after a formal notice from the European Union.

In a recently launched "national consultation" -- a taxpayer-funded survey -- the government alleged that "money from Brussels and overseas" was being used to influence Hungarian politics.

Opposition parties deny allegations of receiving foreign funding, saying that donations came from Hungarian citizens living abroad.