Hungary’s “Sovereignty Protection” Bill Reveals the Government’s Fear of Independent Truth

“I don’t want my children to grow up in a country where it’s legal to lie with Hungarian money, but illegal to tell the truth with foreign money,” says Hettyey András, political scientist and associate professor at Andrássy University Budapest.

On May 14th, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party submitted a bill that, on its face, claims to protect national sovereignty. In practice, it is a sweeping piece of legislation designed to intimidate, delegitimize, and potentially criminalize any independent institution — media, university, NGO, or even theater — that receives support from abroad.

Reading the reflections of political scientist Hettyey András and security policy expert Rácz András makes the stakes unmistakably clear. Their analyses reveal not just authoritarian intent, but a calculated effort to consolidate power by dismantling civil society’s last defenses.

A Snapshot of the Proposed Law

The bill would empower a government-controlled office to list organizations receiving foreign funding as “threats to sovereignty.” Once listed, they could:

 • Be denied access to Hungary’s 1% taxpayer donation scheme

 • Be forced to publish asset declarations of their staff

 • Have their bank transactions monitored and blocked

 • Be fined up to 25× the received amount or even dissolved in case of repeated violations

It is a system built for arbitrary enforcement

As 444.hu reported, the criteria for what constitutes a threat are vague and ideological — including criticism of “Christian culture,” promotion of gender equality, or challenging the “unity of the Hungarian nation.” This is not about protecting sovereignty. It is about silencing difference.

What’s especially alarming is that the very entity empowered to decide who constitutes a “threat to sovereignty” is created, staffed, and controlled by Fidesz itself. In other words, a Fidesz-appointed body would have the power to arbitrarily determine what ideas, voices, or financial transactions are considered dangerous and to investigate and punish organizations without judicial oversight or objective legal standards. 

Hungarian NGOs already comply with transparency regulations. This bill does not improve oversight — it criminalizes foreign support and offers new tools for harassment. The likely targets are not national security risks, but investigative journalists, anti-corruption watchdogs, and grassroots human rights groups.