Is the Hungarian Diaspora Council Orbán’s illegal lobby organization in North America?

On November 30, 2016 the Hungarian Diaspora Council will hold its annual meeting in Budapest at the Parliament building with over 100 invitees. The Council will meet with politicians, among them, leaders of Hungary’s neo-Nazi party, Jobbik. Canadian and US citizens of Hungarian origin may end up meeting with neo-Nazis, some of whom have been expelled from North America! (One example is Mr. László Toroczkai, Vice Chairman of Jobbik who was expelled from Canada in 2008.)

The high point of the gathering is a speech from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán when the carefully selected participants are asked to “defend Hungary from the attacks of the foreign media;” in other words it is expected that they will lobby on behalf of the Orbán government.

It is commendable that the Orbán government maintains contacts with Canadians and Americans of Hungarian origin. At the same time, it is suspected that the Council recruits suitable collaborators to use them as a “Fifth Column,” a possibly illegal lobbying tool in North America.

Canadian members of the Diaspora Council with Parliament Speaker, Mr. László Kövér (with mustache back in the middle), next to him Canadian Council co-chairs Ms. Anna Szenthe and Mr. Tibor Ábrahám.

Canadian members of the Diaspora Council with Parliament Speaker, Mr. László Kövér (with mustache back in the middle), next to him Canadian Council co-chairs Ms. Anna Szenthe and Mr. Tibor Ábrahám.

Consider Ms. Edith Lauer, Chair Emeritus of the Hungarian American Coalition. She is long-time member of the Council and staunch defender the Orbán government. (Read Ms. Lauer’s letter at The Plain Dealer.) This is the kind of loyalty expected from Council members.

Mr. Péter Kovalszki, the past leader of the Hungarian Communion of Friends (Itt-Ott), is also a member of the Council. One of the founders of his group is Mr. András Ludányi, who is on the advisory board of the Budapest-based Veritas Institute. This government-funded institution is working on distorting Hungary WWII history; even the US State Department criticised them in 2015. (read here)

 US members of the Diaspora Council, Mr. Péter Kovalszki (in the middle with red tie) with Ms. Edith Lauer (on his right in red blazer) and Ms. Andrea Lauer Rice (on his left).

US members of the Diaspora Council, Mr. Péter Kovalszki (in the middle with red tie) with Ms. Edith Lauer (on his right in red blazer) and Ms. Andrea Lauer Rice (on his left).

Mr. László Hámos of the New York-based Hungarian Human Rights Foundation is also a Council member. He lobbies on behalf of ethnic Hungarians in Romania. While the Hungarian community has justifiable grievances in Romania, Mr. Hámos’s organization does little to address them, focusing instead on murky real-estate deals. When some ethnic-Hungarian Romanian politicians were accused of real-estate fraud, Mr. Hámos blamed it on discrimination against the entire Hungarian minority of Romania. He went on to question the fairness of Romania’s anti-corruption agency, whose leader Laura Codruța Kövesi has been acknowledged by the US State Department. (read here). (More about Mr. Hámos’ lobbying activities…)

To be fair, several projects of the Hungarian American Coalition deserve praise. For example the Memory Project: the Hungarian American Visual History Archive documents the story of Hungarian immigrants to the US. It is a wonderful initiative yet politics are also present in these efforts. The interviews have ignored historian Charles Gáti who wrote the definitive work on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Mr. Gáti is a critic of the Orbán government.

These pro-Orbán US organizations receive Hungarian taxpayers’ money. The Budapest-based anti-corruption website, atlatszo.hu reported that the Hungarian American Coalition has received $900,000 from the Hungarian Initiatives Foundation which was financed by Budapest. The Hungarian Communion of Friends received funds to develop their website, and Mr. Hámos’s organizaton is the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars for various programs.

None of these organizations have ever disclosed their finances. Not only their finances but most of their activities have remained hidden from the public. As a first step these organizations should disclose their budgets and funding sources.

As far as the upcoming Budapest meeting is concerned, it would be advisable if Canadian and US members of the Hungarian Diaspora Council would skip it. By accepting Mr. Orbán’s invitation they reinforce the suspicion that they act as a paid lobby organization for the Hungarian government in North America.

György Lázár

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