Announcement - Call for Tender

Here is the letter of the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, co-signed by us and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, to European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans urging the EC to act to protect NGOs and the rule of law in Hungary.

Last fall, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) adopted a new policy to help re-establish an environment for government and civil society collaboration, safeguarding the Open Government Declaration and to mitigate reputational risks to OGP. Today, members of Hungarian civil society, including representatives of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor, as well as Sunlight’s international policy manager, a former employee of K-Monitor, called on the OGP Steering Committee to take action under the new policy and launch a thorough investigation into the situation in Hungary, with a special attention to the deterioration of the space for civil society.

Hungary’s National Police force has been accused of discrimination in targeting Roma citizens for trivial fines. NGOs have sent a letter to the police commissioner, who denies the allegations, asking for a working group to study the problem.