Márta Pardavi, co-president of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, said that the scope of dialogue between NGOs and decision makers had been shrinking since 2010.

The opinions of civil groups are disregarded, their proposals are met with “cool suspicion” and they face political pressure, she said, adding that Hungary had a large number of NGOs, but many of them are financially dependent on the central or local government.

As government support is limited and is provided mostly from EU funds, the independent civil sector is forced to rely on other external resources, she said. But multinational companies generally do not support civil rights initiatives since risks are attached to funding NGOs that criticise the government, she added.

Péter Krekó, head of Political Capital, a think tank, said that developments surrounding Hungary’s civil organisations fitted the model Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recently outlined regarding an illiberal state.

He said the Hungarian government’s strategy towards civil society follows the Russian model along three lines.

These include running a smear-campaign aimed at discrediting NGOs, cutting funding for them – clearly seen in steps taken against NGOs involved in Norway Grants – and operating “sham civil organisations” whose only real activity is to organise pro-government demonstrations, he said.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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