Fidesz spokesperson slams ‘pro-migration Soros organisation’ after court ruling

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee NGO is a “pro-migration Soros organisation”, Fidesz spokesman János Halász said on Thursday after a court said Halász did not bear personal responsibility for defaming the NGO but ordered the ruling party to pay a fine of 400,000 forints (EUR 1,300) and issue a public apology for claiming the organisation had operated in an unlawful and non-transparent manner.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee said in a statement that the Metropolitan Court agreed with its complaint that Fidesz’s claims about the committee were false but Halász’s personal responsibility had not been established. The court said Halász was simply doing his job when he voiced the party’s position.

Responding to the ruling, Halász told public media that the Hungarian Helsinki Committee was financed by US billionaire George Soros and served his aims. The NGO “is involved in the migrant business up to its jugular” and represents the interests of migrants in court procedures, such as in the case of two Bangladeshi migrants demanding millions in compensation from the Hungarian state, he added.