As Hungary becomes latest to propose "foreign agents law," European publishers and editors sound alarm

Author: Devin Windelspecht, MSc

May 22, 2025

HRRC calls on the European Union (EU) and its member countries to take all measures to prevent the passage of the foreign agents law in Hungary. Should the bill pass, it calls on the EU to impose all necessary penalties on the country with the aim of repealing the law, which violates the EU’s fundamental principles of rule of law, personal freedom, democracy, and human rights. 

Hungarians want the EU to notice how their government is violating the EU's values and rein it in. [Image credit: Ferenc Isza/AFP via Deutsche Welle]

A draft bill is threatening to result in “effectively outlawing the free press” in Hungary, according to a letter signed by more than 90 editors-in-chief and publishers from across the European Union. 

The bill, which was proposed in Hungary’s parliament on May 13, would expand the power of the country’s Sovereignty Protection Office to list organizations that “undermine Hungary’s independent, democratic and rule-of-law-based character" or that threaten self-described Hungarian Christian values. 

Organizations listed would have their bank accounts monitored and be restricted from accessing foreign funding, including EU grants designed to help media sustainability. Fines for accepting foreign funding would be up to 25 times the amount received. 

In addition to independent media, LGBTQ+ organizations and advocacy groups could be specifically targeted for “challenging the primacy of marriage, the family and biological sex.”

The bill is almost certain to pass given the supermajority of Hungary’s ruling party, Fidesz, in the National Assembly. The vote is scheduled to take place in mid-June. 

The law echoes similar “foreign agent laws” imposed in Russia, Georgia, and most recently in Slovakia that are designed with the goal of cutting off foreign funding to nonprofit organizations and media outlets, often those that are critical of the ruling government. Independent media outlets, which often rely on funding originating from places like the United States or European Union to keep financially afloat, are specifically targeted by these laws. 

In Russia, for example, a foreign agent law first passed in 2012 was drastically expanded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has since been used to crack down on almost all independent media outlets in the country. Russian authorities have used the legislation to shut down websites labeled as foreign agents, require onerous financial reports from labeled individuals and groups, and bans labeled individuals from working at public universities or working with children. 

In Georgia, a similar law drew mass street protests and a veto from the country’s president last year, but was nevertheless passed by the ruling party, Georgian Dream. A new law passed this year made restrictions even harsher on organizations that receive up to 20% of their funding from foreign sources, including up to five years of jail time for failure to register as a foreign agent. 

Foreign agent laws have been noted as a growing tool shared by authoritarian leaders to silence critical reporting and civil society organizations. Today, Hungary ranks among the lowest countries in the EU for press freedom, and the proposed legislation promises only to make the work of journalists attempting to break through the narrative of state-sponsored media harder, especially in the lead-up to critical elections next year. 

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Glossary 

• Advocacy group – an organization that aims to support a specific cause or group.

• Authoritarian – a government system in which the government uses its power to suppress or destroy alternate political parties, movements, and dissent to its rule.

• Biological sex – sex determined at birth, usually by the presence of genitalia corresponding to male or female. Separate from gender, which can include a variety of identification. 

• Civil society organizations – groups operating outside of the government, including the media, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, labor unions and charities. 

• Draft bill – a proposed law that has not yet been held to a vote.

• Independent media – media whose reporting is not influenced by a given government, business, or other external party.

• Legislation – laws that have been voted on and implemented by a legislative body, like the U.S. congress or a national parliament.

• Media sustainability - the ability for news organizations to pay their staff and otherwise keep financially afloat.

• Onerous – deliberately difficult or time-consuming.

• Press freedom – the ability for media to freely report independently without fear of attack, imprisonment, or persecution. 

• Primacy – placing as most important.

• Sovereignty – the right of a country to have complete control over its own borders, internal affairs, and foreign policy. By joining the European Union, countries agree to give away some of their sovereignty – for example, agreeing to follow laws voted and put in place by the European Parliament – in exchange for the benefits of the Union, like freedom of movement across borders. 

• Supermajority – having enough votes in a given congress or parliament system to override a veto, usually a 2/3 majority. 

• Veto – a procedure, usually used by the president of a country, to cancel a law passed by the country’s legislature.

• Undermine - to attack or weaken, usually by secret or underhanded means.