Earth Science News
DEMOCRACY
Inspired by 'Trump-tornado', Hungary vows NGO crackdown
Inspired by 'Trump-tornado', Hungary vows NGO crackdown
by AFP Staff Writers
Budapest (AFP) Feb 7, 2025

Hungary is planning to outlaw NGOs that receive funds from the United States, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday, taking inspiration from US President Donald Trump's crackdown on foreign aid.

Orban, one of Trump's closest allies in the European Union, praised the president's move to hobble his government's humanitarian agency USAID, describing it as a "cleansing wind" and a "Trump tornado".

"All money coming from America should be disclosed and those who receive it should be sanctioned. Money from abroad cannot be accepted to influence Hungarian politics," Orban said in his weekly interview with state radio.

The nationalist leader has long accused political opponents, NGOs and media outlets of serving foreign interests, and called USAID money a "tool of political influence".

USAID, the aid arm of US foreign policy, funds health and emergency programmes in around 120 countries, including the world's poorest regions.

Orban said Hungarian NGOs receiving funds from USAID "specifically supported issues that were linked to the left-wing parties" and were financed to "bring down the government".

"Now is the moment to eliminate these international networks, to wipe them out, to make their existence legally impossible," he said.

Governing parties passed a law in 2017 targeting NGOs receiving funding from abroad, but had to repeal it after a formal notice from the European Union.

Separately, Orban has also hinted that the central European country might quit the International Criminal Court (ICC), after Trump announced sanctions against the institution.

"It's time for Hungary to review what we're doing in an international organisation that is under US sanctions!" Orban wrote on X.

In November, he publicly invited Benjamin Netanyahu to Budapest in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister.

Hungary signed the Rome Statute, the international treaty that created the ICC, in 1999 and ratified it two years later during Orban's first term in office.

But the government says it is not bound by the statute owing to legal technicalities around its adoption into Hungarian law.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DEMOCRACY
What Elon Musk's Twitter tactics may bode for US government
San Francisco (AFP) Feb 4, 2025
As Elon Musk and his aides take control of the US Treasury's payments system, the drastic job cuts and other shake-ups he instituted on buying Twitter may offer a preview of what government workers can expect. Musk, the world's richest person, is leading President Donald Trump's federal cost-cutting efforts under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Treasury's closely guarded payments system handles the money flow of the US government, including $6 trillion annually for ... read more

DEMOCRACY
UN nuclear chief to view soil removed from Fukushima

One dead, dozens missing in China landslide

UK's Lammy warns US aid cuts could see China step into 'gap'

Israel defence minister orders army to plan for 'voluntary' departures from Gaza

DEMOCRACY
Trump creates energy council to power AI race with China

MIT engineers develop a fully 3D-printed electrospray engine

Saudi Arabia to invest $5B in AI data centre; UAE launch DeepSeek-inspired AI models

Sony hikes profit forecast on strong gaming business

DEMOCRACY
French mineral water companies face new investigations

Cook Islands signs deal for closer ties with China; in talks on deep-sea mining access

New Zealand rethinks opposition to deep-sea mining

Cook Islands says in talks with China on deep-sea mining

DEMOCRACY
Greenland glacier accelerates each day with weather and tide changes

Greenland ice crevasses escalate fueling further rise in sea levels

Arctic sea ice levels second lowest on record for January: US data

Climate change increases risk of successive natural hazards in the Himalayas

DEMOCRACY
Hong Kong scientists fight to save fragrant incense trees

Drying and rewetting cycles amplify soil CO2 emissions

French cognac exports to China slump as tariffs bite; Scottish whisky makers fear return of Trump tariffs

Study examines how African farmers are adapting to mountain climate change

DEMOCRACY
Magnitude 7.6 quake shakes Caribbean, tsunami warnings lifted

Greek PM insists no danger from Santorini quake swarm

Fresh quake barrage hits Greek island Santorini

Pain, anger as Turkey marks two years since quake disaster

DEMOCRACY
Sudan's army chief plans transitional govt amid advances; 80 dead in southern Sudan

80 dead in southern Sudan violence: UN

France to pull troops from I.Coast in February;Kenya urges DRC 'immediate ceasefire'

Malawi prepares to withdraw troops from DR Congo

DEMOCRACY
New play takes on OpenAI drama and AI's existential questions

Trump signs order to get 'transgender ideology' out of military

How to Design Humane Autonomous Systems

Three million years ago our ancestors relied on plant-based diets

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.