In 2023, the Fidesz government adopted the Sovereignty Protection Act, reminiscent of similar Russian foreign agent legislation. It established the Sovereignty Protection Authority (SPA), tasked with protecting the country against foreign interference. Led by Tamas Lanczi, the former director of Fidesz’s think-tank Szazadveg and a former presiden

Over the years, Fidesz has enacted a series of restrictive laws targeting NGOs that are critical of the government. The 2017 Lex NGO law required NGOs receiving funds from non-Hungarian sources above a certain amount to register as “organisations funded from abroad”. In 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that law in breach of EU le

In 2021, investigative journalists revealed that about 300 Hungarian citizens, including many journalists, were targeted with Pegasus, a spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group. Although the software had been purchased by the Hungarian state, a later investigation by the government-controlled Hungarian National Authority for D

What is left of independent media faces sanctions, hostility, and surveillance. A notable example is Klubradio, a radio station critical of the government that had its broadcasting licence revoked by the Media Council for alleged breaches of the media law. Despite legal challenges, the revocation was upheld, prompting the EU to launch an infringeme