Hungary is party to all relevant international agreements, except the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence which the government refused to ratify.
The Hungarian constitution explicitly protects the freedom of science and art. The principles of rights and equal treatments are fully included in the relevant documents down from the Constitution (the Fundamental Law), and the respective institutions and officials are in place. These guarantee, among others, the right of information and communication with the media in focus as well as the right to association. These two areas are subject to constant political debate. The government keeps referring to the above-mentioned legal guarantees and presents documented arguments about their fulfilment in practice. National and international critics cite numerous instances and indicators on the limitation of the media and on the biased attitude of the government to NGOs. The civic organisations that consistently monitor the decisions of the government are labelled as Soros agencies regardless if they have had relationship to the Hungarian born philanthropist. “To counter attacks on national sovereignty”, the government established the Office for the Defence of Sovereignty in early 2024. The office cannot yet apply legal sanctions, but it writes reports against international human rights, anti-corruption, democracy NGOs. However, in early 2025, the government plans to introduce a law to protect sovereignty against organisations receiving foreign funding (including EU grants), including media critical of the government; these will be banned from accepting foreign funding.
Obstacles to civil society organisations and the independent press therefore remain unchanged, and the new law on the protection of national sovereignty further undermines civil society space. The role of the state in funding civil society remains a matter of concern.
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