Hungary’s leading civil society groups have accused Viktor Orbán of trying to “silence all critical voices” in the country after proposing legislation to create a “sovereignty protection office” investigating foreign influence.
But Orbán’s critics say his rhetoric is designed to undermine opponents and that, ahead of European parliament and municipal elections next year, the government is stepping up efforts to create imaginary enemies and distract voters.
On Wednesday seven civil society organisations warned in a statement that the plans for a “sovereignty protection office” were part of the government’s broader attempts to quash dissent.
“This deliberate ambiguity allows the new authority to arbitrarily consider any activity related to public affairs as serving foreign interests,” it said, adding that “this is a clear attempt to weaponise the law, create a chilling effect, and further consolidate political power”.
“A straight-up authoritarian tool to crush dissent, intimidate & punish critical voices – it aims to strangle remaining independent media, NGOs & opposition parties, already facing relentless attacks,” she said.
“This is a well-worn tactic by the Hungarian government – creating a vague and imaginary foreign threat to distract voters from real domestic issues, such as the quality of public schooling and healthcare.”
The original article contains 574 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 65%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Hungary’s leading civil society groups have accused Viktor Orbán of trying to “silence all critical voices” in the country after proposing legislation to create a “sovereignty protection office” investigating foreign influence.
But Orbán’s critics say his rhetoric is designed to undermine opponents and that, ahead of European parliament and municipal elections next year, the government is stepping up efforts to create imaginary enemies and distract voters.
On Wednesday seven civil society organisations warned in a statement that the plans for a “sovereignty protection office” were part of the government’s broader attempts to quash dissent.
“This deliberate ambiguity allows the new authority to arbitrarily consider any activity related to public affairs as serving foreign interests,” it said, adding that “this is a clear attempt to weaponise the law, create a chilling effect, and further consolidate political power”.
“A straight-up authoritarian tool to crush dissent, intimidate & punish critical voices – it aims to strangle remaining independent media, NGOs & opposition parties, already facing relentless attacks,” she said.
“This is a well-worn tactic by the Hungarian government – creating a vague and imaginary foreign threat to distract voters from real domestic issues, such as the quality of public schooling and healthcare.”
The original article contains 574 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 65%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!