© Reuters. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends the European Union leaders summit, in Brussels, Belgium October 26, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photograph
By Boldizsar Gyori
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s parliament handed a legislation in parliament on “protecting national sovereignty” on Tuesday to defend towards what the ruling Fidesz get together known as undue political interference by overseas individuals or teams.
The laws got here as nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has clashed repeatedly with the European Union over democratic rights in Hungary, has stepped up his get together’s marketing campaign forward of European Parliament elections subsequent June. Orban has threatened to veto EU support to Ukraine and opposes the beginning of EU membership talks with Ukraine at a summit in Brussels this week.
The brand new legislation, which was handed with 141 votes and 50 towards, will arrange a separate authority to discover and monitor dangers of political interference. It can punish banned overseas financing for events or teams working for election with as much as three years in jail.
Ruling Fidesz get together lawmakers have been requested earlier to desert the proposal by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, who mentioned the legislation would permit the brand new authority to request delicate knowledge and personal info from anybody with out sufficient oversight.
The U.S. envoy to Hungary has additionally repeatedly criticised the laws, evaluating it to Russia’s “foreign-agent bill”.
Orban, in energy since 2010, has denied accusations he was undermining democracy in Hungary.
“Hungary’s sovereignty is impaired – and it also carries a heightened risk to national security – if political power gets into the hands of persons or organizations dependent on any foreign power, organization or person,” the invoice mentioned.
Orban, who has a two-thirds majority in parliament that enables Fidesz to alter any laws, scored his fourth landslide victory in 2022.
