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May 17, 2017; Reuters

European leaders are finally pushing back against Hungarys crackdown on civil society as the European Union (EU) parliament condemned the countrys serious deterioration of rule of law and democracy yesterday in an official resolution.

Its unlikely that the process will result in the suspension of Hungarys voting rights in the European Council, but the action sends a signal to Hungarys increasingly authoritarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbn.

As NPQ reported last month, Orbn has been creating and riding a wave of nationalist, anti-refugee sentiment to consolidate power since 2010. Legislation passed by the right-wing Fidesz government as part of their self-proclaimed spring offensive puts the popular George Soros-funded Central European University at risk with tighter regulations.

Thousands of young people protested the new law targeting foreign universities, which was seen as an authoritarian attack on academic freedom, and many called for the EU to respond. Orbns political party saw a sharp drop in voter support following the widespread protests, according to Politico.

According to a press release from the European Parliament, (MEPs) [Members of the European Parliament] say that Hungarys current fundamental rights situation justifies launching the formal procedure to determine whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach of EU values by a Member State.

The resolution calls for:

Article 7 of the EU Treaty allows the member governments to ask a member state to correct a breach of EU values, according to Reuters. If that recommendation is ignored, the other 27 states can decide to suspend its voting rights. However, the vote must be unanimous, and the right-wing government in Poland, which is currently under the EUs rule of law monitoring procedure over its own actions, would be expected to veto any action against Hungary.

Further, Poland has yet to have its voting rights revoked despite being monitored for more than a year. Earlier this year, human rights watchdogs called for the EU Commission to launch the third and final state of the rule of law procedure under Article 7.

The same advocates hailed yesterdays EU vote as a step in the right direction:

Today the European Parliament marked out a clear red line on the protection of rights, which European governments simply cannot cross, Amnesty International said in a press release.

The Hungarian government must hear this loud and clear and bring itself back into line with EU founding principles, and refrain itself from adopting new laws attempting to silence civil society, including the draft Law on the transparency of organizations funded from abroad.

NPQ has reported widely on crackdowns on NGOs with foreign funding in countries like India, Turkey, and many others. And, a recent article in The Conversation makes the case that these happenings are actually part of a documented trend:

Targeting funding is becoming an increasingly widely usedtactic to restrict civil society. The International Centre for Non-Profit Law found that 36 percent of restrictive civil society lawsenacted globally between 2012 and 2015targeted international funding.

A UN Human Rights Council Resolution adopted in 2016 had alreadyexpressed concernsabout the trend in funding restrictions. Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, an expert in the field, describes the attacks on foreignfunding as usually being theleading edge of wider crackdowns on civil society.

While is heartening to see the EU to step up in support of civil society, its a very long road ahead for Hungary to receive any sanctions of consequence.Anna Berry

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European Union Puts Hungary On Notice for Civil Society Crackdown - The Nonprofit Quarterly (registration)