Fidesz: Bill on NGO transparency is not about sanctioning

Budapest, April 12 (MTI) – The bill on the financial transparency of non-governmental organisations is not aimed at sanctioning but rather making clear who abroad finances whom in Hungary and in what way, a senior ruling party official said on Wednesday.

Gergely Gulyás, Fidesz’s deputy group leader, told a news conference in front of Parliament that numerous NGOs that backed migration were doing everything in their power to stop the government from properly seeing to tasks which derive from its legal duty, set down in Hungarian and European Union laws, to protect the border.

He added that the great majority of these organisations received large amounts of support from US financier George Soros. It is reasonable to expect that transparency — something that these groups are among the most vociferous in demanding — is something they themselves should abide by, he said.

“There is no stigma,” he said.

Gulyas said that among the organisations supporting Wednesday’s demonstration in Budapest staged in protest against the bill were at least 15 backed by Soros. This, he added, was perfectly legal but “we must not keep this information a secret”.

Issues around migration will reappear on the EU agenda in coming months, and the Hungarian government needs to know what kind of support it has, Gulyas said. The majority of Hungarians are behind the government, he insisted.

The government is holding a national consultation, a survey of citizens, on a number of issues which include the question of the accountability of organisations financed from abroad.

Answering a question about comments by some Fidesz officials calling Soros-financed NGOs “agents”, Gulyás said: “It’s a big party and there are a lot of opinions”.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI