Stop Orbán's new
SPO MUZZLE LAW 

The Council made use, for the first time, of the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation with Hungary. The regulation allows the EU institutions to freeze funds when breaches of the rule of law in a Member State are so serious that they threaten the correct implementation of the EU budget. Funds were frozen under two other regimes (EUR 22 billion in cohesion funds and EUR 9.5 billion of the recovery and resilience facility) over similar concerns. 

Tamás Lánczi - a former Orbán speechwriter - was elected president of the SPO, which begings to operate in February . When Mr. Lánczi was the editor-in-chief of Figyelő, the outlet published a list of names of NGO members, accusing them of being ‘Soros mercenaries’. A Hungarian court ruled it as unlawful and fear-inducing.

The President of the SPO argued in an interview in television that: 

“[I]f someone is working to deprive Hungary of the subsidies it is entitled to, and is proud to do so, what does it amount to? [...] The legislators and the law enforcers have a responsibility to clarify what they consider to be treason". 

Our analysis shows that the SPO law seriously violates EU law, specifically highlighting breaches in Articles 2 and 10 of the Treaty on European Union, the freedoms of the internal market, and the fundamental rights outlined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in addition to violations of the General Data Protection, the Services Directive, and the Presumption of Innocence Directive.

The Office pusblishes its first report, targeting journalists working for the New York Times, the CNN, Hungarian and international NGOs staff and a former NATO commander, among others. The SPO said their actions are "threatening the integrity of the election process" and that it is "justified to strengthen the protection of Hungary's sovereignty", whatever Orbán's government decides that to be.

The SPO targets Transparency International Hungary and Atlatszo - a Hungarian independent news outlet - in an effort to silence anticorruption activists and journalists. They are investigated for cooperating with the EU institutions on the fund freezing to Hungary due to serious rule of law and fundamental rights deficiencies

July 23 is the last day for Hungary to provide an answer to the reasoned opinion sent by the European Commission as part of the pre-litigation procedure. If the Commission is not satisfied with the answer provided by Hungary, it can bring the country before the Court, and can (and should) request interim measures to suspend the law. 

In its report, the SPO repeats the classic Fidesz narrative and accuses TI Hungary of being a foreign agent, spread disinformation and of harming Hungary. 

The reason? TI Hungary exposes the corruption of the government.

The Hungarian Parliament adopts Act LXXXVIII of 2023 on the protection of national sovereignty. You may find an official translation here, and an unofficial one made by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee with the aim of better reflecting the initial terminology, wording, and purpose of the Act, here.

The European Commission launches an infringement procedure against the Sovereignty Protection Law arguing that it violates the democratic values of the EU, several fundamental rights of the CFREU (privacy and data protection, freedoms of expression and association, right to a fair trial, privilege agains self-incrimination, among others) and internal market freedoms.

The SPO launches an investigation against Péter Magyar, the main figure in the opposition to Orbán’s government, right before the European and local elections in Hungary. Mr. Magyar accuses Fidesz of corruption and of transforming the state into a propaganda machine. 

The Fidesz majority in the Hungarian parliament requests the SPO to investigate the activities of opposition MEPs. The request portrays the suspension of EU funds and other EU actions as attacks on Hungarians, and accuses those  MEPs of working against Hungary's interests and weakening its sovereignty.

RECLAIM sent a letter to the Commission's President and Vice-President for Values and Transparency (Ms. von der Leyen and Ms. Jourová) warning about the risks posed by the SPO to the integrity of the European elections and its influence over the composition of the 2024-2029 Parliament. Instead of accelerating the procedure, the Commission gave Hungary two extra months to justify its draconian law.

The report tries to justify Orbán’s obstruction of EU policy towards Ukraine and suggests that local opposition politicians independent media are ‘foreign agents’ following the Western narrative imposed by, among others, Commission President von der Leyen, VP Věra Jourová, HRVP Josep Borrell and EUCO President Charles Michel.

The European Commission has referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU, citing the Sovereignty Protection Law's violations of fundamental rights. As the Commission has not asked for the suspension of the law via interim measures, civil society actors remain exposed to mounting pressure by Orbán's government.

15 December 2024 marks the 2 year period within which Hungary can still solve the rule of law problems that led to the decision to freeze EUR 6.3 billion - and avoid losing that money for good. However, with the SPO targetting civil society working with EU fund conditionality, will there be anyone to help the European Commission assess the situation in the country?