Overview

• On June 1, several thousand people marched through Budapest carrying banners such as “Today a donation, tomorrow evidence” and booed the names of 115 MPs sponsoring the draft law.
• The proposal would empower the government to blacklist NGOs and media outlets it deems to threaten national sovereignty by accepting foreign funds.
• Blacklisted organizations would require state approval for overseas donations and lose access to 1% income tax contributions from Hungarian taxpayers.
• The EU Commission has urged Budapest to scrap the draft and has threatened infringement proceedings under its rule-of-law mechanisms if it is enacted.
• Parliament is scheduled to vote on the measure in mid-June, and the ruling Fidesz party’s comfortable majority makes passage highly likely.