The Hungarian government has adopted new regulations this week which will see any organisation or non-profit that advocates for mass migration face a 25 percent tax on any funds spent on promoting migration.
The new law defines support for mass migration as: “Any programme, action, or activity aimed directly or indirectly at promoting immigration and is achieved by: a) conducting media campaigns and seminars and participating in such activities; b) organising education; c) building and implementing networks; or d) participating in propaganda activities that present immigration in a favourable light,” French magazine Marianne reports.
This new law would affect the civil society network of Hungarian-American left-wing billionaire George Soros — such as his Open Society Foundations and its affiliates like the Hungarian Helsinki Committee — and his ‘Soros Plan’, and the legislation has been condemned by NGOs like Amnesty International who called it “an attack on freedom of expression”.
“This applies to organisations that dare to have a different view of the government on migration. What it means to participate in a media campaign is not very clear … is it to share an article? Is it to share three articles?,” Amnesty spokesman Aron Demeter said.
The new law comes after the Hungarian government introduced the “Stop Soros” law which was outlined earlier this year by government spokesman Zoltán Kovács who said: “Anyone involved in aiding or abetting illegal migration would be committing a criminal offence.”
“Committing such offences on a regular basis, providing financial support for illegal immigration or assisting illegal immigration in exchange for money will constitute felonies, and as such will be punishable by prison sentences of up to one year,” he added.
Following the landslide victory of his Fidesz party earlier this year, winning a two-thirds constitutional majority in parliament, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has continued his fight against mass migration. As a result of the conservative’s victory, Soros’s Open Society Foundations, which funds many pro-mass migration NGOs, announced its departure from Budapest and relocation to Berlin.