Szilárd Németh, the Vice President of Fidesz, named Transparency International, the Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) as the three organizations that the Orbán government would “clean out of here” and confirmed that it would do so, “using any methods available.” Specifically, Mr. Németh–the government’s top bully–declared:
“The pseudo-NGOs of the Soros Empire are supported in order to force the world of global capital and political correctness onto national governments. We need to use all means to hold back these organizations and I believe that we must sweep them out of here.”
Szilárd Németh, Vice-President of Fidesz
Observers suggest that forthcoming legislation against NGOs will aim to shame and paralyze organizations that receive grants from foreign funds through new red tape and cumbersome reporting requirements. This legislation will likely be modeled on similar laws introduced in Russia and Israel, with inspiration coming from Arthur J. Finkelstein, according to the Népszava daily, who has done consulting work for the Orbán government. Initially, the government tried to deny that it had any relationship at all with Mr. Finkelstein, with Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office János Lázár once going as far as to claim that he never even heard of the man. Then Prime Minister Viktor Orbán confirmed that he had, indeed, met with Mr. Finkelstein on several occasions. It is widely believed that Mr. Finkelstein has worked on Fidesz’s political and campaign strategies for at least five years. Moreover, Mr. Finkelstein co-owns a firm in London with Árpád Habony, Prime Minister Orbán’s mysterious billionaire adviser and media tycoon. Mr. Finkelstein’s campaign style is based on going to any length to demonize one’s opponent, to distill campaign messages and ideas to simplistic, polemical Manichean allegories pitting the “good” side against the “dark” side, with verbal attacks and key words used repetitively, and going after liberal and centrist politics.
This is not the first time that the Orbán regime launches an assault against NGOs that have been critical of systemic corruption in Hungary and the demise of checks and balances in the political system. In a letter from 2014, Mr. Orbán personally directed Hungarian authorities to launch a raid against NGOs. TASZ spent nearly two years engaged in legal action against the government, in an effort to determine who instructed police to raid a prominent NGO in Budapest and investigations against some 62 others.We now know that Mr. Orbán personally requested for this to happen.
But what may be behind this renewed demonisation of NGOs? Some publicists have suggested that now that the migrant and refugee crisis appears to waning, the government must find a new enemy for Hungarians to hate. Fidesz was singularly successful in sparking a visceral hatred of refugees among ordinary Hungarians, who have come to passionately loathe nearly everyone that is different in any way. But the refugee act may be getting old–so why not re-heat a new enemy: the politically correct, liberally-minded Hungarian lackeys of international bogeyman George Soros?
András Schiffer, who once worked as a lawyer for the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and at the time defended Mr. Orbán and Co. in legal action under the previous Socialist government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, called the most recent threat against NGOs a “provocation and a bluff,” as well as a new strategy of political communication.
“Even Szilárd Németh can’t be so stupid,” said Mr. Schiffer, who noted that forcing the directors of private NGOs to make public information on their income is unconstitutional.
It may be unconstitutional, but what Fidesz is clearly trying to do is demonise people who are employed by liberal, “politically correct” NGOs and spread malicious information about their salaries and personal wealth–making it appear that they are rich liberals in cahoots with international big money.
A friend of mine, Szilárd Kalmár, who runs a small non-profit in Budapest and serves meals to the homeless in the 8th District, wrote the following on Facebook: “I own a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle, which is scrap and has not been serviced. I have a 1995 Skoda Felicia, which I bought for 95,000 forints ($400). I own a Waffenrad bicycle worth around 15,000 forints ($70) and a laptop from 2007. I also have a 3 million forint loan. Do I need to say anything else about my financial situation, you bastards?”
Sub-human refugees are yesterday’s news. Meet the new public enemy number 1: the community activist and NGO sector employee.
The FASCIST “LIGHT” REGIME hardens.
Soros-financed NGOs, the untouchables. Time to kick them out.
Lila, for this 2 well crafted sentences, how much do you charge us, the taxpayers?
Lila,
You earned your pay for the day. Do you ever have an original thought?
Lila is the quintessential paid Fidesz troll. The only question remaining: is he/she actually commenting from Hungary or from Russia?
Karl B
It is not their job to have original thoughts, nor any thoughts (witness new education sys) at variance with the party line.
They are either paid or just a bleathing herd, e.g. two legs baaad, fooour legs good (Animal Farm).
I am amazed how educated, middle class Fid faithful use the current buzz words and slogans verbatim without embarrassment. But I’m doing my best …
What a disgusting bully! He’s going to shut them down, cleanse Hungary of them using any means possible? So I guess disappearing into a black car in the middle of the night, unusual motorway accidents, strange cases of food poisoning are all in the offing. This guy Nemeth sounds like Donald Trump on steroids.
When will the idiot European Union wake up and throw the Hungarian bums out?
Lanark
I’m afraid we are witnessing a tragic head in the sand or not-in-my-term approach, which may turn to Munich 20xx accords if the Russians push harder.
Thumbs up Fidesz, do it. Sweep all those scum Soros-mafia NGOs out of my country, enough is enough. Also Dont forget to sweep out the Hit Gyulekezete.
Do not touch Israel! It is the safe harbour of the most persecuted people in the history of mankind.
Term of ‘assault”not lucky (in real tricky) word in this context. Read please the articles of HVG (Weekly World Economy) too in this topic. The good example to manage the Orban regime of the outgoing Hungarian Democrat ambassador Coleen Bell. She did not hysterize the FIDESZ acts, she criticyzed gracefully them. (The bad example was Andrew Goodfriend). Please patient.
You speak to yourself Donbass. We Magyars are Israel.
Its Soros and his mafia who is abusing Israelites…Hungary.
We Magyars are the persecuted people.
Israel is not a country, but a name of a group of people from Isaac.
Armin Vambery the founder of Turanism, Pan-Turkism which is the renewal form of Magyar/Hungarian nationalism, what was he? A Hungarian nationalist Jew. Hahaha
He knew that we Magyars are Israelites so is the other Turks.
What else?
2 Hebrew names Uz, Uzi and Ur, Uri like Uri Geller for example, tell me which people, tribe, nation in this world still has this name?
Uz/Oguz Turks (Turkish, Turkmen, Azeri, Gagauz) and Ur/Ogur/Ugor Turks ( Magyars, Bashkir, Bulgar, Chuvash).
Kipchak/Kifchak/Ifchak Turks which Israelite tribe are they? The tribe of Ephraim.
My profile name Kalasz, who were they? The Kalasz/Kaliz Turks from Khorezm, what is the other name for Khorezm? Havilah. Who went to Havilah? The exiled tribes of Israel.
Have a nice day Judah people.
Kalasz Musztafa,
One more off-topic comment and you will lose your ability to comment here.
Miklos Banfi, please ask for brain transplantation. Yours has fallen out through your butt. Not that the difference is noticeable.
Hungary is drenched in Jewish blood. Over a million Jews were deported by fellow Hungarians during the last months of the war, when the whole world was closing in on Nazi germany and all knew that Germany is defeated Hungary gave a gift to nazis here are a million Jews for you to burn them alive. Hungary never really offered to make amends with this fact of murdering a million Jews. So any investor in Hungary keep that in mind
A million? Why not 6 million.
@Hungarian Freak Press,
No, Moscow with the rotten Lenin corpse is your domain.
Szilárd Német’s name in Hungarian means Solid German. I’ll call him Solid Neo-Nazi. He is the true face of the Orbán regime’s arrogance, repressive nature. As for the various trolls – Liladiadal, Donbass – they are the true faces of the neo-nazi coward, the Fidesz decorated István Lovas, who writes here under various aliases and with great regularity – as he does in kurucinfo and on many other social media surfaces specializing in fake news manufacturing. His specialization is hate mongering. He is the Orbán regime’s merchant of venom. HFP is obviously doing something right, to warrant so much attention from this loser.
A.Göllner
“I.Lovas … He is Orbán regime’s merchant of venom.”
No, no, I won’t have that.
You ignore the other psychotic hate mongers, eg. Bayer, Bencsik, etc. Why, Bayer is probably more toxic then Lovas, and there are several other evil gnomes there too. Let’s be honest, we are not fideszniks.
Andras Gollner, that is true Szilard Nemeth means exactly that in Hungarian. The problem is there are many crypto-Swab Germans out there being disguise as Hungarians. But even your name Gollner is not Hungarian either and some Hungarian Jews, non- jews have German names. That is because of the Germanization process during the Habsburg rule in Hungary. Very few Hungarians have preserved their Turkic names.
Regarding the trolls being Neo- Nazis, sorry Im not Neo- Nazi nor Facsist, there is a major frictions between me and them.
As for Soros, he’s a war criminal and a manipulator, he is even worst than anything.
So I Dont understand what’s the problem of getting rid of all those Soros-NGO’s?
Christopher Adams wrote that Israel and Russia has already done it, so why can’t Hungary do it too?