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| - The EU's top court on Thursday ruled that curbs imposed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on foreign-funded NGOs broke European law. "Hungary's restrictions on the funding of civil organisations by persons established outside that member state do not comply with the Union law," the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said in a statement. The European Commission had referred Hungary to the court following the adoption in 2017 of a law that is one of many that the EU says violate European rule of law. According to critics, this law targeted Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros, who in 1984 created the Open Society Foundation, a harsh critic of Orban. The legislation in question requires certain categories of NGOs that receive more than 7.2 million Hungarian florints ($27,000) of foreign funding per year, to register as such and make the distinction public. In particular, they must publish the names of donors. If they do not comply with these obligations, they are subject to sanctions. Because it "establishes a difference in treatment between national and cross-border movements of capital", this law constitutes a restriction on the free movement of capital, the court said. It creates "a climate of mistrust towards the associations and foundations" targeted, it said, and may dissuade donors. The court rejected Hungary's arguments on transparency, holding that the restrictions apply indiscriminately and not only to organisations likely to have a significant influence on public debate. mlp-arp/pdw/wdb
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