EU takes on Hungary over NGO law seen as targeting Soros

The EU launches legal action against Hungary on Thursday over a crackdown on foreign-backed civil society groups that critics say targets US billionaire George Soros.

The move comes hours after the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says it will end a poster campaign attacking Soros that has been accused of anti-Semitism.

Brussels also announces that it is advancing a separate case over an education law that could shut a Soros-backed university, risking a fresh confrontation with Orban.

“We have studied the new law on NGOs carefully and have come to the conclusion that it does not comply with EU law,” European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans says.

Timmermans says civil groups are “the very fabric of our democratic societies and therefore should not be unduly restricted. We await a reaction from the Hungarian authorities within a month.”

Hungary’s parliament last month approved the law, which will force groups receiving more than 24,000 euros ($26,000) annually in overseas funding to register as a “foreign-supported organisation,” or risk closure for noncompliance.

— AFP

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