Hungarians have right to know how NGOs have spent EU monies
Hungarians have the right to know what NGOs have spent the huge amounts of money they have received from the European Union on, the EU affairs ministry’s ministerial commissioner said in Brussels on Thursday.
“Skeletons have been coming out of the closet over the past weeks,” Boglárka Bólya said after meeting EU officials to discuss the transparency of funding for NGOs.
She said that last week the European Commission “admitted” that some EU-financed NGOs had engaged in “unjustified lobbying” in connection with the LIFE programme supporting the EU’s environmental and climate policy, while this week a report by the European Court of Auditors noted shortcomings in the transparency of databases related to the financing of NGOs, something that Hungarian government had been pointing out “for a very long time”.
Bólya said a fresh study showed that politically active NGOs had directly received at least 62 million euros over the past ten years.
“The Hungarian government’s position is clear: political corruption uncovered by the Trump administration must not be allowed to continue in Europe,” she said.
Bólya noted the Patriots EP group have set up the Democracy and Freedom Committee to investigate abuses that violated democratic rights and the rule of law in the European Union.
The committee’s relevance, she said, was clear since for years Brussels had worked to hinder right-wing, sovereignist, conservative governments that oppose the mainstream. Double standards were “so high that everyone in Brussels is silent about the fact that the rule of law is currently being dismantled in Poland in the name of the rule of law,” she said. The committee, she added, would investigate and reveal such abuses to the public, Bólya said in her statement.
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This is called transparency.
One of the West’s biggest mistakes in tghe post-WW2 era, if not THE biggest, has been the quest to establish, promote, and fund “civil society.” The original idea was commendable: Even in a healthy democracy, it’s desirable to have organizations representing minorities whose interests and voices may get drowned out by the vigorous debates of the bigger groups.
Yet, over time, these organizations have effectively become the shadow government, which is in many cases more powerful and influential than the actual elected administrations. Despite having precisely ZERO democratic mandate, they frequently dictate and even write public policy. That they are funded by the taxpayers is bad enough; that they also receive tens of billions of dollars from foreign institutions, organizations, and even governments, as well as super-rich (also foreign) activists, is EGREGIOUS!!!
Speaking of which – and a decision the Trump administration has refused to rescind (surprisingly, a facts and data thing):
“The United States is today designating senior Hungarian government official Antal Rogan under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program for his involvement in corruption.
During his tenure as a government official, including as Minister in Charge of Orban’s Cabinet Office, Rogan has reportedly orchestrated schemes designed to control strategic sectors of the Hungarian economy. Minister Rogan has played a central role in enabling a system in Hungary that has benefitted himself and his party at the expense of the Hungarian people. Rogan’s activity is emblematic of the broader climate of impunity in Hungary where key elements of the state have been captured by oligarchs and undemocratic actors.
Today’s action implements the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, which identifies state capture as a specific typology of concern. The United States has a national security interest in the vitality and continuity of the democratic institutions of our Allies as well as in protecting democracy globally. This designation is intended to ensure the U.S. financial system plays no role in facilitating the corrupt activities of Antal Rogan.
We continue to urge Hungary’s leaders to address corruption proactively, unequivocally, and decisively.”
https://2021-2025.state.gov/sanctioning-hungarian-official-antal-rogan/