Hungary has been accused of trying to intimidate civil society after it launched an investigation into Transparency International – an non-governmental organisation that aims to tackle corruption worldwide.
A newly formed body by the Hungarian government named the Sovereignty Protection Office sent a six-page letter to the group accusing it of «aiming to influence the will of the electorate».
The European Commission in turn has issued legal proceedings against Hungary for its Sovereignty Office, saying it violates European democratic values and fundamental rights.
Hungary has a few weeks to respond, or the case could escalate to the European Court of Justice.
Budapest denies the Sovereignty Protection Office is about stifling freedom of information, and insists that the office is independent of the government and aims to provide clarity on funding for NGOs.
Janos Boka, Hungary’s European Affairs minister, has supported the Sovereignty Protection Office’s impartiality saying, «.When you refer to investigation or scrutiny initiated by this office, this is not something that is done by the government, this is something that is done by the office which is institutionally and personally speaking independent of the government» Boka said.
A lawyer for the Transparency International said that the claims made against it by the Office were false.
Miklos Ligeti, Legal Director at Transparency International Hungary claimed the group were «scapegoated» after they submitted letters to it inquiring about Chinese state finance loans to the Hungarian government.
«China is giving major state finance loans to the Hungarian government to finance the Budapest railway. And this is a very obscure investment with no transparency requirements applying” said Ligeti.
