Spain and at least another 14 countries, in addition to the European Parliament, have joined the Judicial Battle of Brussels against the Sovereignty Law promoted by the ultra -rightist Viktor Orbán, who, under the premise of combating foreign interference, promoted a regulation that pursues the activity of critical organizations with the government. The European Commission initiated an infringement procedure against Hungary for this controversial regulations, considering that it violates Basic EU norms, and took it in October before the EU Court of Justice (TJUE), which has already lying previous attempts of Orbán to persecute the NGOs.
With this law, Orbán created the National Sovereignty Defense Office (SZVH) to investigate people and organizations that consider a threat to “national sovereignty” and “constitutional identity.” This agency, chaired by Tamás Lanczi, a former Fidesz advisor – the Orbán party – have been granted broad powers: secret services can provide classified information and their investigations cannot be used on entities or people who supposedly receive money from abroad to “influence” the Hungarian political debate.
The broad concept of investigating activities with the aim of influencing the “democratic debate”, with a deliberate ambiguity, gives broad -manga to arbitrariness. The first report prepared by the SZVH put NGOs in the Diana as an international transparency, which evaluates the level of corruption in each country, as well as to independent means. He also initiated an investigation against Péter Magyar, a former member of the Orbán party who has become his greatest opponent and now militates in the ranks of the European Popular Party.
As editor -in -chief of a Hungarian newspaper, the current president of the SZVH published a list of NGO members who accused of being “Soros Mercenaries”, the great obsession of the European ultra -right and, especially, of the Hungarian Prime Minister, who undertook a campaign against the philanthropist. “If someone is working to deprive Hungary of the subsidies to which he is entitled and is proud to do so, what is it equivalent to? Legislators and those responsible for enforcing the law have the responsibility of clarifying what they consider betrayal, ”he said as responsible for the entity. These words suppose “aim for the Hungarian and European civil society organizations that work in the field of the rule of law and the conditionality of the EU”, denounces the organization Reclaimwhich supports causes of civil rights and fight against corruption.
“Orbán has turned Hungary into the branch in Europe of Putin and Trump. But his last and Machiavellian invention even surpasses his mentors. Under the farce of “defending sovereignty”, he created a public authority to persecute journalists, the academic world, the NGOs or, of course, the opposition. Embarted by Trump’s cuts to USAID, he has promised to eliminate Pro-Democracy NGOs before Easter. But, unlike Russia or the United States, Hungary promised to remain a democracy by joining the EU. In this club, not complying with the rules has consequences – at least, sometimes, ”reflects Esther Martínez, director of Relaim.
The Orbán Crusade against NGOs
Brussels and 15 countries (Spain, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Ireland and Portugal) and the European Parliament want to short -circuit the new attempt of Orbán to silence the opposition and the civil society organizations that question the vulnerations of the rule in the rule of law in the rule The country.
In line with the appeal presented in October by the European Commission, that of Spain includes the violation of European norms with the so -called ‘Sovereignty Law’, including foundational basic principles of the EU as the internal market, by putting free establishment, the free provision of services or the free circulation of capital. Thus, the document, to which Eldiario.es has had access also lists the violation of some articles of the EU fundamental rights letter, such as respect for private and family life, the protection of personal data, freedom of expression and information or the right to effective judicial protection.
“The message is clear: respect for the foundational values of the EU, such as democracy, the rule of law or human rights, are not negotiable. When intervening in favor of the Commission, the Member States not only support a lawsuit, but ask President von der to intensify the struggle for democracy in Europe. Just when it is most needed, ”explains Alejandro Ménendez, legal advisor in Reclaim, who regrets that the European Commission has not requested as a precautionary measure the suspension of the ‘Sovereignty Law’:“ We must not settle for waiting for the sentence in three or four years. By then, there may not be democracy to save in Hungary. ”
Now a new judicial battle begins. In any case, Orbán has declared war on civil society organizations and has recently threatened to make them “legally impossible.” In a meeting behind closed with his party, which has an absolute majority, he stated that more severe laws are approved to veto the media and NGOs that have benefited from the aid of the United States during the previous Democratic Administration, according to the local press last week. Orbán said that US President Donald Trump, and Magnate Elon Musk have uncovered what he called a network of “political corruption” that distributed billions of dollars to the media and international organizations, also in Hungary, collects the EFE agency.
The Tjue already failed against Hungary in a first attempt to persecute NGOs through a law with which he forced them to give information about their income from abroad. In June 2020, a sentence established that Hungary had promoted “discriminatory and unjustified measures both compared to organizations [que recibían el dinero] as of the people who grant them that help. ” Luxembourg judges admitted that there may be a general interest in knowing the foreign financing of organizations that have influence on the public sphere. “Hungary has not demonstrated why the objective of increasing the transparency of the financing of the associations that invokes would justify the specifically established measures,” said the ruling, which also considered that there was a limitation of the right of association.
Other open fronts: the homophobic law
Another of the attempts for Orbán’s Hungary was convicted was to persecute NGOs to help migrants. And, years before, the TJUE gave a pull of ears to Budapest for submitting a LGTB asylum plaintiff to a psychological examination. “It is a disproportionate interference in their private life,” the judges determined.
Hungary is one of the most open -front countries in the Courts of Luxembourg, which imposed a fine of 200 million euros to the country for boycotting EU’s asylum policy during the 2015 refugee crisis.
But not only in the migratory field. The group of defenders of the Rule of Law already joined the demand for Brussels against the homophobic law of Orbán that prohibits talking about homosexuality in school programs. The view of that case was held at the end of November and the sentence is expected to reach the end of the year.
Orbán’s authoritarian drift is one of the main problems of the EU internally. The ultra -rightist leader, who is now emboldened with the triumph of Donald Trump, constantly blackmail the European partners, especially with his alignment with Vladimir Putin with respect to Ukraine since in foreign policy decisions it requires the unanimity of the 27.
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