Hungary has rejected criticism of its new ‘sovereignty protection’ law, after the European Union instigated legal action against Budapest Wednesday. The EU has concerns that the legislation breaches basic democratic rights. Henry Ridgwell has more from the Hungarian capital. Camera: Ancsin Gábor
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budapest, hungary — Hungary has rejected criticism of its new sovereignty protection law after the European Union instigated legal action against Budapest on Wednesday over concerns the legislation breaches basic democratic rights. 

Hungary passed the Defense of National Sovereignty Act in December 2023, creating a new investigative body with sweeping powers to gather information on any groups or individuals that receive foreign funding and influence public debate. Hungary’s intelligence services can assist in investigations with little or no judicial oversight.

The legislation says that “the use of foreign funds in the context of elections should be punishable under criminal law” with a penalty of up to three years in jail.

Critics say the law could potentially target a broad range of people in public life.

“We have very vague provisions about a potential threat to sovereignty coming from foreign funding which might affect the voters in Hungary. So, we’re using very broad definitions here,” Barbara Grabowska-Moroz, senior fellow at Central European University’s Democracy Institute, said in an interview with VOA.

EU criticism

The European Union, which has repeatedly criticized what it sees as democratic backsliding in Hungary in recent years, announced Wednesday it had launched infringement proceedings against Budapest.

“The [EU] Commission considers that the laws violate EU law, in particular when it comes to the principle of democracy and the electoral rights of the EU citizens, the fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the EU Data Protection Law and several rules applicable to the internal market,” EU spokesperson Anitta Hipper told reporters in Brussels.

“In addition, the setup of a new authority with the wide-ranging powers, and a strict regime of monitoring enforcement and sanctioning, also risks to seriously harm the democracy in Hungary. In terms of the process, Hungary has now two months to reply to the letter of formal notice,” Hipper said.

Hungary repeatedly refused VOA requests for an interview.

Writing on X, government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs said the law was introduced after Hungarian opposition parties took foreign funding during the 2022 election, including from Hungarian-born U.S. financier George Soros, a frequent target of the ruling Fidesz Party. Opposition parties deny acting illegally.

The law states that “Hungary’s sovereignty is increasingly under unlawful attack. … In order to ensure democratic debate, transparency in public and social decision-making processes, disclosure of foreign interference attempts and the prevention of such attempts, an independent body should be set up to investigate them, and the use of foreign funds in the context of elections should be punishable under criminal law.”

Critics have compared the legislation to Russia’s foreign agents law, which has forced out several nongovernmental organizations and shuttered civil society.

Consolidating power

The new investigative body is another tool for the government to consolidate its grip on power, according to journalist Andras Petho, founder of the Direkt36 investigative journalism center, one of the few independent journalism organizations left in Hungary.

“Its responsibilities and its role is very vague. Basically, it can look into the activities of anyone — it can be private individuals, it can be organizations, the media, it can be civil society organizations. So, it’s very vague. That’s why we and a lot of other people think that it’s dangerous for the public discourse,” Petho told VOA.

“The government has been building this story, this narrative, for years now, that Hungary — by which they mean themselves — they are under attack from foreign interests, forces. And basically, anyone who criticizes them, or anyone who is not actually serving their interests, is part of that foreign operation,” he said.

Miklos Ligeti, head of legal affairs at Transparency International in Budapest, said the new law could target organizations like his.

“We believe that the new regulation — the whole sovereignty package — was designed to put further constraints on operations and activities of those civil society organizations which are successfully embarrassing the government,” he said.
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Paris — Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has long been a thorn in the European Union’s side, his many critics say, with attacks on press freedom, judicial independence, immigration and the LBGTQ community among others flouting the EU’s rule of law and democratic values.

Orban has a friendly relationship with Russian and Chinese leaders — even as ties between Brussels and Moscow are in a deep freeze, and those with China are tense.  Time and again, Hungary’s 60-year leader has obstructed or watered down a raft of EU sanctions against Russia, along with the bloc’s support for Ukraine.

But last week, Orban backed down, voting in favor of a $54 billion aid package for Ukraine, after what was reportedly extensive pressure and lobbying by the EU’s other 26 members. Still uncertain is whether the rare victory was a one-off, or will embolden the bloc’s leaders to keep their black sheep counterpart in line. Analysts say a tough approach is needed, as the EU faces new threats ahead of European Parliament and U.S. elections this year.

“I fear the EU member states drew the wrong lesson from this case,” said Daniel Hegedus, senior fellow for the German Marshall Fund policy institute, referring to the bloc’s win on Ukraine aid. “The widespread interpretation within EU capitals would be that at the end of the day Orban gives in, that it’s possible to forge a compromise with the Hungarian government.”

Rather than negotiating with Orban to reach “bad compromises,” Hegedus added, “the message should be clear [that] he’s just one step away from the red line. And if he crosses it, there will be far-reaching consequences.”

Right now, Hungary’s leader shows few signs of marching in lockstep with his mainstream EU counterparts. On Monday, his right-wing Fidesz party boycotted a Hungarian parliamentary session called to ratify EU member Sweden’s NATO bid.

On Wednesday, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced it was beginning legal action against Hungary over new “sovereignty” legislation that critics see as a threat to political opponents and others — and which Brussels says violates the bloc’s democratic principles.

Over the years, the EU has fined and withheld funds from Hungary over similar concerns, with mixed success. Critics say Orban has been adept in securing concessions from the EU, in what the bluntest describe as blackmail.

Those talents have helped keep Hungary’s prime minister popular at home. Meanwhile, EU membership allows the small, central European country to hit well above its political weight, striking investment deals with major powers like China.

Isolated – for now

Yet today, Orban is more isolated than ever within the bloc, many say. His ideological ally, Poland’s populist and conservative Law and Justice party, lost October elections to a pro-EU opposition party. Unlike Orban, however, Law and Justice was staunchly anti-Russia.

Two other EU nationalist leaders — Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico — both voted in favor of the Ukraine aid package last week.

“Fico is not a follower of Orban when it comes to, for example, foreign policy,” says Zsuzsanna Vegh, a central Europe analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations research group, referring to the Slovak prime minister who has been seen as pro-Russian. “He has other considerations.”  

For her part, Meloni strongly supports both Ukraine and NATO.

Vegh and other analysts believe Hungary’s leader is looking ahead  — setting his sights on European Union parliamentary elections in June, and a U.S. presidential vote in November, when allies could come into power.  

Polls suggest right-wing, populist parties in Germany, France and elsewhere could score strongly in the EU legislative vote, which could influence the bloc’s foreign policy, including on Russia.

“Obviously, the new European Parliament will be less left-leaning and liberal minded, less progressive,” the German Marshall Fund’s Hegedus said. “The nationalist conservative forces will have a much larger representation.”

The European Commission is also set for renewal. The new right-wing governments in Europe — able to pick European commissioners — will help shape its makeup.

Orban also hopes former President Donald Trump, a NATO skeptic, will score a second term in office, many say.

“Prime Minister Orban can allow himself to play the long game,” Hegedus said. “And sit out uncomfortable periods, waiting for the better times when allies are coming into power in the European parliament and the United States — when the environment will be much more favorable for him.”  

Tougher response needed

Against this backdrop, he and others believe, mainstream Europe needs to toughen its response.

“None of us really knows why Orban is being such a disruptive, anti-EU, anti-Ukraine, anti-democratic force inside the EU,” said Judy Dempsey, senior fellow at Carnegie Europe.

“It’s puzzling. But what’s also puzzling is why [member states] didn’t take on these questions earlier on.”

“There was a lack of strategy, a lack of courage,” she added, “and just a lack of consensus to say to a member state, ‘Sign up to our values and democratic institutions — take them or leave them.’”

Beyond withholding funds, the EU has a last resort “nuclear option” that suspends voting rights of a member state, but only through a unanimous vote.

“It would be a very messy process, we know that Slovakia would block it,” fearing it could be vulnerable as well, said analyst Vegh. “But there’s a growing realization the situation is not sustainable.”

She believes the EU should stay tough with Hungary, as it was last week on Ukraine aid, and consider ways to shift to majority — rather than unanimous — voting on foreign policy matters. But the only way to really handle Orban, she believes, is through the ballot box.

“Ultimately, it’s up to Hungarians to change their government,” Vegh said. “As long as Orban is in power, the EU can expect the behavior he’s displayed for over a decade.”
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GENEVA — A U.N. watchdog group Thursday accused Russia of violating the rights of Ukrainian children in both Russian occupied territories in Ukraine and in Russia.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, a body of 18 independent experts that monitors implementation of the convention, raised many concerns about the killings and injuries of hundreds of children by the indiscriminate use of explosive devices by Russia in Ukraine.

The committee also strongly criticized the forcible transfer and deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation “in violation of rights under the convention.”

Russia was one of six states parties whose record came under review during the committee’s latest three-week session. The states parties are the countries that ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In presenting its major findings, committee Vice Chair Bragi Gudbrandsson highlighted “measures that Russia has taken, including the presidential decree from January 2024 providing Russian citizenship to forcibly transferred or deported children in a simplified procedure.”

He said the committee also was concerned about “evidence that suggests that children are deprived of their Ukrainian nationality in violation of the rights of a child.”

According to the Ukrainian government, at least 20,000 children have been forcibly deported to Russia. Gudbrandsson said several reliable sources have confirmed the number.

“However, Russia denied this,” he said. “They submitted information that over 700,000 children had fled to Russia, to safety, as they defined it.”

He said the committee assessed the information and evidence that was presented and “it is our conclusion that there is evidence of forceful transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia.”

“We cannot identify the number of these children, but we know there are many and we can support this with the actual measures Russia has taken to simplify procedures to acquire Russian citizenship and to place Ukrainian children with Russian families,” he said.

Russia stands accused of trying to erase Ukraine’s cultural and national identity, a charge that the committee corroborates.

Committee Chair Ann Skelton told journalists in Geneva that the Russian delegation denied that Ukrainian children were being adopted. It said that the children were being fostered by Russian families.

“On the other hand, they also acknowledged that there were a lot of children who were being given Russian citizenship, which would also in itself mean that these children were losing their identity and were being given a Russian identity. We consider it to be a very big risk for the future — these children who are being indoctrinated.”

To ensure that no child is deprived of their Ukrainian nationality in violation of their rights under the convention, the committee has asked the Russian delegation to provide information about the precise number of children taken from Ukraine and about the whereabouts of each child.

Gudbrandsson said that was important so “parents and other legal representatives can track them, including through identification of such children … so the children can be returned to their families as soon as possible.”

The committee says it has received worrying reports of sexual violence, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture of children by the Russian authorities in the occupied Ukrainian territory.

The human rights experts say they also are seriously concerned about reports of violations of children’s rights in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, including “arbitrary arrests of children by Russian law enforcement officers, including for participation in peaceful assemblies.”

In both instances, the committee is calling on Russian authorities to investigate the crimes against children and to punish the perpetrators.

In his concluding remarks, committee Vice Chair Gudbrandsson urged the state party “to cease military operations in Ukraine without delay, to avoid further devastating consequences for children in Ukraine, Russia, and all over the world.”

In response, Alexey Vovchenko, deputy minister of labor and social protection of the Russian Federation and head of the delegation, said he valued the work of the committee and that “The state would be attentive to all the recommendations made by the committee.”

“However, the Russian Federation would not consider itself obliged to fulfill recommendations which were not aimed at fulfilling the rights of children in Russia,” he said, “but were biased and sought to interfere in the affairs of the sovereign state.”
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GRINDAVIK, Iceland — A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted on Thursday for the third time since December, sending jets of lava into the sky and triggering the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon spa, one of the island nation’s biggest tourist attractions. 

The eruption began about 6 a.m. along a 3-kilometer (nearly 2-mile) fissure northeast of Mount Sylingarfell, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. Several communities on the Reykjanes Peninsula were cut off from heat and hot water after a river of lava engulfed a supply pipeline. 

The eruption site is about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people that was evacuated before a previous eruption on December 18. The Meteorological Office said there was no immediate threat to the town Thursday. 

Civil defense officials said no one was believed to be in Grindavik at the time of the new eruption. “They weren’t meant to be, and we don’t know about any,” Vioir Reynisson, the head of Iceland’s Civil Defense, told national broadcaster RUV. 

The Civil Defense agency said lava reached a pipeline that supplies towns on the Reykjanes Peninsula with hot water — which is used to heat homes — from the Svartsengi geothermal power plant. Authorities urged residents to use hot water and electricity sparingly, as workers rushed to lay an underground water pipe as a backup. 

The nearby Blue Lagoon thermal spa, created using excess water from the power plant, was closed when the eruption began, and all the guests were safely evacuated, RUV said. A stream of steaming lava later spread across the exit road from the spa. 

No flight disruptions were reported at nearby Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport, but hot water was cut off, airport operator Isavia said. 

The Icelandic Met Office earlier this week warned of a possible eruption after monitoring a buildup of magma, or semi-molten rock, below the ground for the past three weeks. Hundreds of small earthquakes had been measured in the area since Friday, capped by a burst of intense seismic activity about 30 minutes before the latest eruption began. 

Dramatic video from Iceland’s coast guard showed fountains of lava soaring more than 50 meters (165 feet) into the darkened skies. A plume of vapor rose about 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) above the volcano. 

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic, averages an eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe. 

Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist who has worked extensively in Iceland, said it’s highly unlikely the “gentle, effusive” eruption would disrupt aviation because such volcanoes produce only a tiny amount of ash. 

Grindavik, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, was evacuated in November when the Svartsengi volcanic system awakened after almost 800 years with a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the earth north of the town. 

The volcano eventually erupted on December 18, sending lava flowing away from Grindavik. A second eruption that began on January 14 sent lava toward the town. Defensive walls that had been bolstered since the first eruption stopped some of the flow, but several buildings were consumed by the lava, and land in the town has sunk by as much as 1.5 meters (4.5 feet) because of the magma movement. 

No confirmed deaths have been reported, but a workman is missing after falling into a fissure opened by the volcano. 

Both the previous eruptions lasted only a matter of days, but they signal what Icelandic President Gudni Th. Johannesson called “a daunting period of upheaval” on the Reykjanes Peninsula, one of the most densely populated parts of Iceland. 

It’s unclear whether the residents of Grindavik will ever be able to return permanently, McGarvie said. 

“I think at the moment there is the resignation, the stoical resignation, that, for the foreseeable future, the town is basically uninhabitable,” he said. 

He said that after centuries of quiet, “people thought this area was fairly safe.” 

“It’s been a bit of a shock that it has come back to life,” he said. “Evidence that we gathered only quite recently is that eruptions could go on for decades, if not centuries, sporadically in this particular peninsula.”
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