Bill No. T/11923 entitled “On the Transparency of Public Life” was submitted on 13 May 2025 by Member of Parliament, János Halász, as an individual member’s motion. As the bill was not submitted by a minister but as an individual initiative, it is not subject to the obligation of public consultation prior to parliamentary submission.

The scope of the bill covers all legal entities and other organisations without legal personality that threaten Hungary’s sovereignty by engaging in activities aimed at influencing public life through foreign funding.

In line with the bill, the Sovereignty Protection Office conducts investigations and makes recommendations to the Government regarding the registering of organisations that influence public life through foreign support. Based on these recommendations, the Government issues a decree registering the organisations considered to endanger national sovereignty.

In response to the submission of the bill, WAN-IFRA wrote to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán regarding the proposed increase in powers of the Sovereignty Protection Office and the potential implications for press freedom in the country.

Paris, 19th May 2025

Mr Viktor Orbán
Prime Minister of Hungary

Re: Proposed new powers for the Sovereignty Protection Office

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to you on behalf of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, representing over 18,000 news titles and over 3,000 news organisations worldwide, to express our deep concern at a draft bill currently before the Hungarian parliament that we believe poses a significant threat to independent media.

It is our understanding that the proposed bill would disproportionately increase the powers of the Sovereignty Protection Office and other authorities to monitor, penalise, and potentially ban organisations – including media companies – simply because they are recipients of foreign funding.

We note the vague and overly broad definition of what constitutes a threat to national sovereignty contained within the proposed legislation, and as a result believe interpretation of the bill is at risk of potential abuse and political manipulation.

Furthermore, the punitive measures contained within the bill appear designed to intimidate and deter ordinary Hungarians from donating financially to any organisation blacklisted under this proposed legislation.

We note that despite your government’s receipt of billions of Euros worth of funding from European sources, the proposed legislation targets organisations who themselves receive European Union funding.

We remind you that as a European Union member state, Hungary is obliged to uphold media freedom and pluralism as fundamental rights, as enshrined in Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. These rights are crucial for ensuring freedom of expression and information, and they apply to all member states and their citizens.

Under its current form, we believe this proposed legislation risks violating both European law and the principle of democracy upon which the European Union is founded.

We therefore urge you to rethink the proposed new legislation and to review the powers of the Sovereignty Protection Office to ensure media freedom and media pluralism are protected, not punished under Hungarian law.

Sincerely,

Ladina Heimgartner
President
WAN-IFRA

David Walmsley
President
World Editors Forum