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Venice Commission: Hungarian law on foreign-funded NGOs still raises concerns
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The Hungarian law on foreign-funded NGOs, despite amendments, still raises concerns, the Venice Commission said in an opinion published on Friday.
The Council of Europe’s advisory body, composed of independent experts in constitutional law, said that it had adopted an opinion clarifying its preliminary opinion. The law, passed this week, only partly satisfies the preliminary opinion’s main recommendations, the Venice Commission said.
The Commission again acknowledged that the aim of ensuring transparency of civil society organisations in order to prevent undue foreign political influence, money laundering and terrorism-financing is, in principle, legitimate.
“However, the commission stressed that this legitimate aim may not be used to stigmatise NGOs or restrict their ability to carry out their activities. This effect would go beyond the legitimate aim of transparency,” the opinion showed.
“The Venice Commission praised the removal of provision in the law for the automatic sanction of “dissolution” for non-respect by an association of obligations imposed by the law, notably the failure to report foreign funding beyond a certain annual threshold,” it added.
The revised opinion showed that the broad exceptions to the application of the law, notably the recently added exception for national minorities organisations, coupled with the negative rhetoric that continues to surround this matter, cast a doubt on the genuine aim pursued by the law.
When foreign funded NGO’s are actively stirring up hatred and anxiety in a country it is the duty of the government to put in controls. The controls put in by the hungarian government are fair and proportionate. In hungarys case it is a very rich ex hungarian who has a hatred of the current prime minister. Soros ia actuvely interfering in hungary’s internal affairs so it is right he should be cut out. Of course many people in europe are interfering in hungarys business. Thats why the EU is such an evil organisation, very similar to soviet times. CEU is a sham university, i know people who study there and it is a scam. Its a recognised way for pretty girls from ukraine to get visas to UK.