Updated 12.49 | Published 12.34
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full screen Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Stock photo. Photo: Denes Erdos/AP/TT
The European Commission is starting another process against Hungary. The country’s so-called sovereignty law is feared to “seriously damage” democracy in the country.
The new law was passed in December and came into effect just before Christmas, and is mainly intended to ban foreign financing of election campaigns.
Candidates and parties risk punishment if they use foreign funds to try to influence voters.
A similar law was hammered through in 2017, but had to be withdrawn after a formal remark from the EU.
This time too, there is a long line of objections from the EU Commission.
– The Commission considers that the law violates EU law, especially with regard to principles of democracy and the rights of voters, fundamental EU rights, data protection laws and several laws related to the internal market, says spokesperson Anitta Hipper at the Commission’s daily press briefing in Brussels on Wednesday .
Hungary now has two months to react to the EU’s objections.