On 13 June 2017, the Hungarian National Assembly (Parliament) adopted the Act LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations Supported from Abroad (hereinafter: the Law). It obliges associations and foundations that receives at least 7.2 million HUF annually from foreign source to register with the court as an organization receiving foreign funding, to annually report about their foreign funding, and to indicate the label “organization receiving foreign funding” on their website and publications. The list of foreign funded NGOs is also published on a government website.

Between 2010 and 2014, an 'illiberal state' was being built in Hungary. In line with prime minister's announcement on the subject, from 2014 we have been offered a perspective on how an actual, consolidated illiberal democracy operates.

Read our constitutional complaint in which we articulate that according to our position, the regulatory concept of the entire Act LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations Receiving Foreign Funds is contrary to the Fundamental Law and therefore we primarily request the nullification of the entire Act.

OpenDemocracy, CELS and INCLO are launching a new minisite on The Right to Protest, with support from the ACLU.

The undersigned civil society organisations from Hungary wish to draw the attention of the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the alarmingly shrinking civic space for civil society and the growing obstacles faced by human rights defenders in Hungary.

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.