Economy
Hungary raids NGOs, accuses Norway of political interfering
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Lázár vs. Norway in brief:
The Norway Grants, an agreement between the EU and Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein about funding projects in less-developed European economies, have financed organisations that have criticised Hungary's government heavily in recent years.
Critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán say his centre-right Fidesz party has been entrenching its hold on power since an election victory in 2010, eroding the independence of institutions such as the judiciary and the central bank. He was re-elected by a landslide in April.
After the government appointed Fidesz loyalists to lead public institutions and fostered a deferential media culture, many NGOs fear they may be the next target.
The government rejects this charge and says the Norway Grants found their way to a small green-liberal party, Politics Can Be Different (LMP), which scraped over the 5% minimum threshold with 5.3% of the vote in April's elections.
Shortly after the elections Orbán's chief of staff János Lázár wrote to Norway's EU affairs minister Vidar Helgesen that he saw signs Oslo was trying to influence Hungarian politics through the grants.
"You dedicated a key role to this party when the grants were assigned," Lázár wrote. "I get the impression that you support a one-party democracy in Hungary, with the one party you like."
In an emailed statement to Reuters on Friday the government said it had no intention of fighting individual NGOs, but it repeated the charges that the grants sought to exert political influence.
It added a list of recipients it considered problematic for "leftist political ties", such as Transparency International, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union or the investigative journalism portal atlatszo.hu.
Funds management will remain as it is
The organisations typically received around 100,000 euros each from the Norway Grants. Norway is not an EU member but has a separate association with the bloc.
Helgesen told Reuters in a phone interview on Monday that Norway would continue funding the grants and carry out its own audit that is due in the autumn, adding that Budapest had agreed to the terms of the funding scheme it now attacked.
"It would not have been in our interest to support any individual political party," Helgesen said. "That accusation is hard to see the basis for... There's no (unilateral) action the Hungarian government can take to alter the way the funds are managed."
"There is a shared European concern about the weakening of democratic institutions and processes (in Hungary), such as the constitutional court, the legal system, the electoral commission and of course the space for the media and others to enjoy the freedom of expression. There are infringements here that are cause for concern."
Campaign against NGOs
The government has led an escalating campaign accusing the four NGOs that helped Norway disburse the grants of political meddling. It said the Government Control Office (KEHI) would audit Ökotárs, the lead NGO in the disbursement effort, but sent KEHI agents to two other partner organisations as well.
The agents wanted to see virtually all documents related to the Norway grants, lists of winners, losers and emails among the organisations that managed the grant, the web site index.hu quoted one of the organisation leaders as saying.
András Nun, head of Autonomy Foundation told index.hu that the KEHI wanted virtually all information, even on whose application had been rejected and on what grounds, including the entire correspondence between the four NGOs managing the Norwegian NGO Programme.
Officials of the fund said the list of the winners, the size of the grants and the selecting criteria are, of course, available for years back, but they do not find it justifiable to reveal the names of the rejected bidders for they had not consented to being named. Not to mention that this way the list of criticisers would come into the open, although their name should remain confidential. The Prime Minister’s Office, helmed by János Lázár, has published a list of names that are allegedly affiliated with LMP or the Socialist Party. Index.hu noted that the 50-60-member selection body also included people affiliated with Fidesz, but the PM’s Office “forgot" to put them on its list. It also remains unclear how Lázár obtained the list of people evaluating the applications for grants.
Veronika Móra, head of Ökotárs Foundation, said they question the objectivity of the audit, saying the government is merely trying to intimidate them and the supported organisations. Asked why they do not provide the KEHI with the requested data, she responded that the government would this way obtain sensitive information, e.g. who is working with certain NGOs, such as human, minority and gay rights organisations, for instance which could be used in other cases too.
As for the list of “problematic" NGOs selected by the government, accused of left-wing bias or political affiliation, Móra noted that 13 names made it to Lázár’s list, whereas they distributed grants to 128 organisations last year. Interestingly enough, the listed organisations are all in democracy watch and human rights organisations.
LMP co-chair Bernadett Szél rejected the charges that her party would benefit from the Norway Grants and said the government's actions may destabilise the non-government sector.
"To Janos Lázár, the non-government sector is just another area to occupy," she wrote in a statement late on Friday. "LMP rejects the charges... and considers it outrageous that (Lázár) wants to use made-up charges to undermine a working system."
The government said it had no intention of taking up a fight against individual NGOs, but it repeated the charges of political influencing in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Atlatszo.hu board member Attila Mong told Reuters he had no doubt that the government had set out to cut that lifeline from the organisations it considers unfriendly, adding there were almost no other financial sources to replace these grants.
"Orbán's message is clear: he wants his hands to be the only ones to feed NGOs," Mong told Reuters. "If you don't want it, you will starve."
- János Lázár, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, accused Ökotárs Foundation, the operator of NGOs responsible for the disbursement of Norwegian grants, of political bias (towards left-wing parties);
- therefore it recommended Norway to have the Hungarian government distribute its grants instead of NGOs;
- Norway said thanks but no thanks and insisted on Ökötárs and the existing system;
- as a response Lázár’s warned that the Government Control Office (KEHI) wants to conduct an audit at the NGOs in question;
- Norway argued that the KEHI has no jurisdiction and no right to audit Ökötárs and the NGO Programme for there no state funding is involved, adding their interstate agreement stipulates the same;
- however, the KEHI announced an audit at Ökötárs Foundation for Monday morning;
- yet it chose acting against its official notification and raided other two foundations of the NGO consortium - Autonómia Alapítvány (Autonomy Foundation) and Demokratikus Jogok Fejlesztésért Alapítványnál (Foundation for the Developmetn of Democratic Rights) -, although they have not received prior notification;
- later on Monday it did pay a visit at Ökotárs
- Ökötárs Foundation’s management have never experienced such tricks by a government organization before.
The Norway Grants, an agreement between the EU and Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein about funding projects in less-developed European economies, have financed organisations that have criticised Hungary's government heavily in recent years.
Critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán say his centre-right Fidesz party has been entrenching its hold on power since an election victory in 2010, eroding the independence of institutions such as the judiciary and the central bank. He was re-elected by a landslide in April.
After the government appointed Fidesz loyalists to lead public institutions and fostered a deferential media culture, many NGOs fear they may be the next target.
The government rejects this charge and says the Norway Grants found their way to a small green-liberal party, Politics Can Be Different (LMP), which scraped over the 5% minimum threshold with 5.3% of the vote in April's elections.
Shortly after the elections Orbán's chief of staff János Lázár wrote to Norway's EU affairs minister Vidar Helgesen that he saw signs Oslo was trying to influence Hungarian politics through the grants.
"You dedicated a key role to this party when the grants were assigned," Lázár wrote. "I get the impression that you support a one-party democracy in Hungary, with the one party you like."
In an emailed statement to Reuters on Friday the government said it had no intention of fighting individual NGOs, but it repeated the charges that the grants sought to exert political influence.
It added a list of recipients it considered problematic for "leftist political ties", such as Transparency International, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union or the investigative journalism portal atlatszo.hu.
Funds management will remain as it is
The organisations typically received around 100,000 euros each from the Norway Grants. Norway is not an EU member but has a separate association with the bloc.
Helgesen told Reuters in a phone interview on Monday that Norway would continue funding the grants and carry out its own audit that is due in the autumn, adding that Budapest had agreed to the terms of the funding scheme it now attacked.
"It would not have been in our interest to support any individual political party," Helgesen said. "That accusation is hard to see the basis for... There's no (unilateral) action the Hungarian government can take to alter the way the funds are managed."
"There is a shared European concern about the weakening of democratic institutions and processes (in Hungary), such as the constitutional court, the legal system, the electoral commission and of course the space for the media and others to enjoy the freedom of expression. There are infringements here that are cause for concern."
Campaign against NGOs
The government has led an escalating campaign accusing the four NGOs that helped Norway disburse the grants of political meddling. It said the Government Control Office (KEHI) would audit Ökotárs, the lead NGO in the disbursement effort, but sent KEHI agents to two other partner organisations as well.
The agents wanted to see virtually all documents related to the Norway grants, lists of winners, losers and emails among the organisations that managed the grant, the web site index.hu quoted one of the organisation leaders as saying.
András Nun, head of Autonomy Foundation told index.hu that the KEHI wanted virtually all information, even on whose application had been rejected and on what grounds, including the entire correspondence between the four NGOs managing the Norwegian NGO Programme.
Officials of the fund said the list of the winners, the size of the grants and the selecting criteria are, of course, available for years back, but they do not find it justifiable to reveal the names of the rejected bidders for they had not consented to being named. Not to mention that this way the list of criticisers would come into the open, although their name should remain confidential. The Prime Minister’s Office, helmed by János Lázár, has published a list of names that are allegedly affiliated with LMP or the Socialist Party. Index.hu noted that the 50-60-member selection body also included people affiliated with Fidesz, but the PM’s Office “forgot" to put them on its list. It also remains unclear how Lázár obtained the list of people evaluating the applications for grants.
Veronika Móra, head of Ökotárs Foundation, said they question the objectivity of the audit, saying the government is merely trying to intimidate them and the supported organisations. Asked why they do not provide the KEHI with the requested data, she responded that the government would this way obtain sensitive information, e.g. who is working with certain NGOs, such as human, minority and gay rights organisations, for instance which could be used in other cases too.
As for the list of “problematic" NGOs selected by the government, accused of left-wing bias or political affiliation, Móra noted that 13 names made it to Lázár’s list, whereas they distributed grants to 128 organisations last year. Interestingly enough, the listed organisations are all in democracy watch and human rights organisations.
LMP co-chair Bernadett Szél rejected the charges that her party would benefit from the Norway Grants and said the government's actions may destabilise the non-government sector.
"To Janos Lázár, the non-government sector is just another area to occupy," she wrote in a statement late on Friday. "LMP rejects the charges... and considers it outrageous that (Lázár) wants to use made-up charges to undermine a working system."
The government said it had no intention of taking up a fight against individual NGOs, but it repeated the charges of political influencing in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Atlatszo.hu board member Attila Mong told Reuters he had no doubt that the government had set out to cut that lifeline from the organisations it considers unfriendly, adding there were almost no other financial sources to replace these grants.
"Orbán's message is clear: he wants his hands to be the only ones to feed NGOs," Mong told Reuters. "If you don't want it, you will starve."
