Hungarian Bill Would Criminalize Foreign Funding Of Election Campaigns

The Hungarian government wants to criminalize the foreign funding of election campaigns under proposed legislation submitted on November 21. The so-called "sovereignty protection bill" is seen as the latest clampdown by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist government on political rivals and critics. After the 2022 parliamentary elections, the government released declassified intelligence reports alleging that the opposition alliance received funding from a U.S.-based NGO, and Orban has claimed that U.S. taxpayer money had been used to finance the campaign to defeat him. Opposition parties deny the allegations, saying the funds came from Hungarian citizens living abroad.