The office said in a statement that it had launched a comprehensive investigation into Atlatszo's activities in June, which had found that the outfit was part of a complex international network that represented the interests of its financers against those of the "target country".

The Sovereignty Protection Office pointed to the 2018 report prepared by MEP Judith Sargentini critical of the state of the rule of law in Hungary as an example of the damage Atlatszo had caused for Hungary. It said the "verdict" on the "trumped-up charges" brought against Hungary in the rule-of-law procedure had been based on partial reports prepared by Atlatszo and "other political pressure groups that also receive financial support from the European Union".

The office said the partial reports in question remained confidential to this day, and Atlatszo had refused to release them despite being called on to do so.
 

"The systematic abuse of data of public interest by the political pressure group poses a threat to our country," the office said. "It has uploaded more than 9,000 documents to the server of the network's US-based headquarters so far, thereby providing a means for attempts at foreign influence operations." The office said the documents in question contained agreements and correspondence between Hungarian state and local council institutions and private businesses and individuals, as well as hundreds of phone numbers and other personal details.

The office said Atlatszo's finances were not transparent and were often "confusing and contradictory". The organisation's finances between 2011 and 2016 are unavailable to the public, and the finances between 2017 and 2023 "point to a number of accounting anomalies", it added.

But the office said that "in spite of the tricks", it had concluded that the majority of Atlatszo's funding came from abroad, mainly from organisations linked to US financier George Soros.

Atlatszo, the statement said, had refused to cooperate with the Sovereignty Protection Office during the investigation and had failed to hand over any information.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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