Hungary will draft new legislation to protect national sovereignty and move to uncover foreign funding and influence in its media, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze most funds disbursed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for 90 days, place most of its staff on leave, and scale down the agency has thrown some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide into a state of operational and financial limbo.
On Monday, the Hungarian leader signaled a crackdown on NGOs and media that had received funding from USAID and Hungarian-born American billionaire George Soros.
“The corruption network that rules the entire Western world of politics and media must be eliminated,” Orban told the opening session of the parliament in Budapest on Monday, adding that his government would “go to the wall” to pass the new laws.
“We have abundant information on this but still have some gaps ... we have found several channels where they funnelled hundreds of millions of forints to Hungarian media and organisations. Therefore, I propose to the House that ... it should pass the laws needed to protect our sovereignty that are still missing.”
He did not elaborate on what the new legislation would entail.
Earlier this month, Orban said people who work for organizations that received USAID funding could be considered “agents” and described Trump’s moves to dismantle the agency as a “cleansing wind” from what he called the “Trump tornado.”
“All money coming from America should be made public, and those who receive it should have sanctions enacted against them,” he said. “You cannot accept money from abroad in order to influence Hungarian politics, and this will be legally enforced. Those involved will face legal consequences.”
All remaining USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on “administrative leave globally” from midnight Feb. 23, except for those handling “mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs,” the agency’s notice said.
The notice said that agency leadership will notify essential personnel that they need to continue working by 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 23, while affected workers will receive information about their benefits and rights.
Orban has held power in Budapest since 2010 and faces his next electoral challenge in 2026, when Hungarians go back to the polls.
Frequently a dissenting voice within the European Union, he has disagreed with the majority opinion in Brussels on numerous issues including the war in Ukraine, energy policy, and family values.
The EU has withheld billions in funding to Hungary over what it says are violations of rule-of-law and democracy standards and an alleged failure to address deficiencies in judicial independence.
