Funding was given to an organization that is not subject to strict party funding laws.Continue reading
The Hungarian opposition may have campaigned with even more foreign money than they have admitted so far, according to Máté Kocsis, the parliamentary group leader of the governing Fidesz party.
Speaking to the public radio on Sunday, Máté Kocsis reminded that the parliament’s national security committee had earlier decided to ask the secret services to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the alleged illegal financing of Hungarian campaigns from abroad. The heads of the services presented the first report of this at the committee’s meeting last week, Kocsis said, adding that since the material is classified until 31 December 2051, the committee recommended its declassification.
He argued that there are shocking facts in this material that the whole public should know.
The procedure is ongoing, he said, explaining that the report contains names, connections, and organizations.
Péter Márki-Zay, the opposition’s former candidate for prime minister, admitted that in June, months after the elections, his Everybody’s Hungary Movement (MMM) received hundreds of millions of forints in support from the United States. The politician said they had received a total of around 1.86 billion forints from a US foundation called Action for Democracy, led by well-known critics of the Hungarian and other conservative governments. Márki-Zay argued that although foreign funding of political parties is prohibited by law, MMM is a movement, not a party. Even according to opposition media, even though the deal was legal, it was problematic and it is hard to understand why Márki-Zay himself drew attention to it.
According to Kocsis, the joint opposition received some 810 million forints from the Hungarian state for campaigning but received several times that amount from abroad. He added that the question of sovereignty is raised by the fact that “the financiers obviously asked for influence”, and the question is what was promised in return.
Péter Márki-Zay tweeted that he supports the declassification of the information because they have nothing to hide.
Featured photo via Facebook/Márki-Zay Péter