Easter Purge? Orbán Sets Deadline to Crush Independent Media and Civil Society
Photo: Shutterstock 2025-03-05
Photo: Shutterstock 2025-03-05
Viktor Orbán’s Sovereignty Protection Office has already been harassing investigative journalists and civil society, but now the Hungarian prime minister has vowed to eliminate the “Soros network” and the “empire” by Easter. What does this mean? Analysis by Political Capital Institute.
“Let’s shut off the Soros network’s financial taps, and let state authorities fulfill their sovereignty protection obligations… We could be done with the empire’s Budapest outpost by Easter.” On February 22, 2025, Viktor Orbán announced in his annual state of the nation speech that he would permanently clear Hungary of independent media outlets and NGOs that he deems undesirable as part of the “empire” (likely referring to the “Soros empire”). Given how specific his stated timeline was, we are confident he was not simply making empty threats.
Since coming to power in 2010, Orbán has gradually yet systematically restricted the space for independent voices, largely following the Russian model. With Donald Trump taking office and U.S. funding for foreign aid frozen, Orbán likely feels that all external obstacles have now been removed (he hardly considers the European Union one of them). As a result, he apparently no longer cares about preserving a democratic image. His goal is simply to make life impossible for the independent media outlets and civil society organizations that he despises.
For 15 years, Hungary has been moving in this direction. Orbán has crossed numerous once-unthinkable red lines, including the establishment of the Sovereignty Protection Office in 2024. However, despite immense challenges, the targeted organizations and media outlets have continued their work. The big question now is whether they will still be able to do so after Easter.
15 Years of Milestones
Let’s see how we got here. Government attacks on independent media in Hungary began shortly after Viktor Orbán’s election victory in 2010, which granted him a two-thirds supermajority in parliament. The new media law was passed by the end of 2010, resulting in the transformation of public media into government propaganda over the next two years. A media authority was also created. Its members were exclusively appointed by the ruling party (National Media and Infocommunications Authority, NMHH). In 2018, a massive foundation was established (Central European Press and Media Foundation, KESMA) to oversee no fewer than five hundred media outlets (printed and online newspapers, radio stations, TV channels, local newspapers). Further, over the years government-controlled media have become increasingly centralized. Government communication has also become more active on social media, spending large sums of money through various proxy organizations to reach voters who might not otherwise seek political content.
The establishment of the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO) in February 2024 marked a significant step forward, as it introduced something previously unimaginable. Although the Office lacks regulatory powers (e.g. it cannot impose fines), it is capable of harassing the independent press and civil society organizations, under the pretext that they operate with foreign funding. Following the logic of the Russian foreign agent law, the SPO can label almost anyone as serving foreign interests, engaging in intelligence activities, or attempting to influence Hungarian domestic politics unlawfully. In its first year, the SPO fulfilled these expectations, targeting its first subjects — the investigative journalism center Átlátszó and the anti-corruption organization Transparency International Hungary (TI Hungary) — with these exact accusations. While these organizations have not yet been disabled, a serious smear campaign has been underway against them since June 2024.
In an authoritarian system, uncertainty must be constantly maintained. The perceived enemies must always feel that the government can take unexpected actions, and that what seemed unimaginable a day before could happen. No one could have expected the establishment of the SPO a few years ago, and even after its creation, it was unclear what steps could be expected from it and how much it should be feared. Based on its first year of activity, it seems to be something halfway between an authority and a government propaganda channel: it investigates, requests data, writes reports, but more importantly, provides content to amplify government messages and discredit organizations that fall into its crosshairs.
After Orbán’s recent announcement, it is more than likely that the Office will gain more authority, so it will be able to attack its perceived enemies more effectively than it has so far.
How the Sovereignty Protection Office harassed TI Hungary and Átlátszó
On June 25, 2024, the SPO initiated a comprehensive investigation against TI Hungary and Átlátszó, focusing on the use of foreign funding, marking them as the first targets of the office.
The SPO informed Átlátszó that it had begun investigating its operations because it was suspected of engaging in activities to influence the will of Hungarian voters through the use of foreign funding. According to the government narrative, these organizations, using foreign support, interfere in Hungarian domestic political processes, deceive voters, and represent foreign interests. Eventually, Átlátszó was even accused of conducting intelligence activities.
TI Hungary called the Office’s procedure unfounded and even deemed the Sovereignty Protection Act, which established the SPO, unconstitutional. However, as an organization committed to transparency, it indicated that it would respond to the questions within the given time frame, although it also pointed out that most of the answers were available from information on its website. TI Hungary also announced that it would file a constitutional complaint to the Constitutional Court. In the complaint, TI Hungary argued that there is no judicial or other legal remedy available against the SPO’s actions and findings, which violates fundamental rights related to effective legal remedy and fair proceedings.
Átlátszó, however, determined that it had no obligation to respond to the Office. “Activities aimed at influencing voters’ will” refers not to media, but to campaign activities carried out in partisan, political, or local government matters, and Átlátszó does not engage in such activities. Therefore, Átlátszó decided to share only information with the Office that it would provide to any other requestor.
On October 14, 2024, the SPO made its report on TI Hungary public, and exactly two weeks later, it did the same for Átlátszó. The documents confirmed the darkest expectations: TI Hungary was labeled as a “political pressure group” and was accused of operating in Hungary as part of a global lobbying network. Átlátszó was similarly slammed, with the SPO going so far as to attribute intelligence activities to the outlet.
Átlátszó quickly responded to the accusations made by the SPO. Editor-in-chief Tamás Bodoky rejected that he and his colleagues were engaging in intelligence activities. He did not deny that part of their revenue comes from international donors, a fact that has always been made clear on Átlátszó’s website. A few days later, Átlátszó filed a personal rights lawsuit against the SPO, rejecting the claims made in the Office’s report as unfounded and largely false. Átlátszó also rejected the accusations by the SPO that claimed that the outlet’s activities posed a threat to Hungary’s sovereignty, deeming the findings of the report groundless and false.
On November 15, 2024, the Constitutional Court rejected TI’s constitutional complaint. The Court determined that since the SPO does not have authoritative powers, its activities do not restrict freedom of expression. Although the complaint was dismissed, the decision offered some help to the challenged organizations: the Constitutional Court stated that the SPO does not qualify as an authority, meaning that cooperation with it can essentially be refused without consequences. Following the decision, TI announced that it would turn to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Obscure Prospects
The establishment and operation of the SPO is just one part of Hungary’s democratic backsliding. Of course, the country is far from being Russia, but it is clear that developments in Hungary are following a pattern not unlike what happened there. In 2017, NGOs receiving at least HUF 7.2 million foreign fund (≈ €20,000) per year were required to label themselves “foreign-funded organizations”; even though the Court of Justice of the European Union struck this down in 2020, today, we have reached the point where any NGO that has ever accepted foreign funding can expect harassment and smear campaigns from the SPO.
The nature of the regime demands that it constantly increase the pressure it puts on civil society. New initiatives are thus continuously emerging. For example, in the summer of 2024, SPO president Tamás Lánczi introduced the concept of a “sovereignty gray zone,” referring to entities that are neither state nor EU institutions yet operate freely. These groups present themselves as media outlets or NGOs but, in Lánczi’s view, actually function as political lobbyists. According to the SPO president, a new classification should thus be established for “political pressure groups.” The prime minister’s recent announcement echoes this idea. It is not yet clear whether this previously unknown legal category will actually be created or whether the concerned entities will “just” be financially crippled. However, we can be certain that, once again, steps will be taken that would have previously been unimaginable.
Historian Krisztián Ungváry also warns against underestimating this phenomenon. In a recent interview with Átlátszó, he said, “The threat posed by the Sovereignty Protection Office – both to Hungary’s sovereignty and to fundamental human rights – is immeasurably great; it is a matter of life and death. At present, it is a toothless lion, but the moment it is granted law enforcement powers, it will no longer be. The moment an office gains the authority to determine which public figures’ political opinions constitute a counterintelligence issue, we will have arrived in Putin’s Russia.”
Political Capital’s more in-depth study on the Sovereignty Protection Office’s work against Átlátszó and Transparency International Hungary is available here.
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