Slovakia’s Parliament approved a law on April 16 tightening reporting and other requirements for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
The new statute requires NGOs to name their donors and publish wide lists of their officials, and it introduces fines for administrative errors.
Organizations affected by the legislation have labelled it a “Russian law” the government was using to settle scores with critics from the civil sector, and they likened Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Fico’s government has long accused NGOs of supporting their liberal opposition parties and foreign interests, taking aim at those funded by a foundation set up by Hungarian American billionaire George Soros.
Fico has accused the organizations of planning to escalate public protests against his government’s policies, an accusation they refute.
“Non-governmental organizations are a gray zone; they do politics, draw money from around the world, and no one knows what they do with it,” Richard Glück, a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for the ruling SMER-SSD party, said at a news conference on April 14.
Fico’s party had originally planned more wide-ranging alterations to the status quo, including labeling NGOS as “organizations with foreign support” like those in Russia or Georgia.
This suggestion provoked a warning from the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union.
Other changes, including labeling NGO representatives who meet with officials “lobbyists” and allowing the interior ministry to dissolve them for administrative errors, were blocked on April 16 by Fico’s allies in Parliament.
NGOs have said the law is designed to intimidate, could breach constitutional rights, and goes against rulings by Europe’s Court of Justice.
“We call it a Russian law not because it is a copy of the Russian one but it was inspired by Russia and in variety with the constitution and EU law,” said Katarina Batkova, director of Via Iuris, an NGO dealing with human rights.
“The proposed measures have clear aim: stigmatization and limiting activities of civil organisations,” she told Reuters.
Slovak public rights defender Robert Dobrovodsky and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty have both written to parliamentarians in Bratislava to reconsider the law.
The Slovak government’s move comes as countries across Europe move to pay closer attention to the activities and funding of NGOs.
Georgia’s Parliament passed a bill on April 16 banning foreign donor organizations from providing grants locally without government consent.
The bill was unanimously approved by lawmakers of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which is regarded as anti-Western.
Opposition parties have boycotted the Parliament since an October election they say was won by electoral fraud.
The law requires government approval for monetary or in-kind grants to Georgian organizations and citizens, with violators facing harsh fines.
It also prohibits international NGOs from arranging events on behalf of political parties in the country.
The bill comes as part of a broader government clampdown on Georgia’s pro-Western opposition, including the passage in 2024 of a law requiring organizations that receive money from overseas to register as “foreign agents.”
Hungary has also expressed suspicion of NGOs recently, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán saying in February that he would take legal action to eliminate NGOs and media outlets operating in the country that receive funding from international sources.
At the time, Orbán said people who work for organizations that received U.S. Agency for International Development funding could be considered “agents,” and he described U.S. President Donald 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,” Orbán 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.”
