Hungarian PM’s Political Director says EU should “follow Georgia’s lead” with foreign transparency law

Balázs Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Political Director, on Friday supported the controversial Georgian law on transparency of foreign influence and said similar legislation should be introduced across the European Union.

In his social media message, Orbán said “protecting sovereignty” from “unwanted” foreign interference was “not a threat but a precondition for democracy”.

“Our intention is not to veto Georgia’s Law on the Transparency of Foreign Influence, but to encourage the introduction of similar laws across the EU”, he said.

“Protecting one’s sovereignty from unwanted foreign interference is not a threat but a precondition for democracy - this is what the law is about, and instead of condemning it, the EU should perhaps also follow the lead”, he noted.

The Georgian Parliament on Tuesday adopted the bill reintroduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party on the backdrop of ongoing public protests.

The legislative piece, which calls for the registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad, was supported by 84 MPs in the 150-member lawmaking body, with 30 voting against.

It requires groups “considered to be an organisation pursuing the interests of a foreign power” to be registered in the public registry with the status and publicise their received funding.