Hungary’s State Audit Office (ASZ) imposed a 520 million forint (€1.34 million) fine on opposition parties four months ahead of local government and European Parliament elections, accusing them of receiving illegal campaign funding for the 2022 elections, bne IntelliNews informed.
The audit office ruled that the Democratic Coalition, Jobbik, Momentum, the Socialist Party, and LMP must pay the entire amount, divided equally, to the central budget within 15 days. There is no possibility to appeal against ASZ’s decisions, but the parties have declared that they will attempt to appeal to the court anyway.
ASZ head László Windisch claimed that the parties illegally received over 261 million forints from abroad through the Hungary Belongs to Everybody (MMM) movement established by Péter Márki-Zay, the joint prime minister candidate of the opposition picked by voters in primaries two years ago.
The opposition parties categorically rejected the accusations, stating that the funds in question came from micro-donations from Hungarian citizens living abroad, which is legal. They also emphasised that no legal action had been taken against them, despite the government’s claims.
The ASZ investigation revealed that MMM and opposition parties set up an election board to coordinate their campaigns. MMM used funds from abroad to partially fund party billboards, leaflets and other campaign material, as well as joint events. The parties accepted the support, thereby violating rules prohibiting illegal party funding.
Analysts noted that MMM did not violate the law by receiving foreign funding per se, but since they were running a joint campaign, political parties inherently utilised this funding, which could provide legal justification for the findings if the financing was truly foreign.
Hungary’s Law on the Protection of Hungarian Sovereignty, passed late last year, tightens up foreign funding of political parties. Accepting foreign money for political purposes or attempting to conceal it is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The Democratic Coalition stated that it would take “all possible legal steps” against the fine. The party declared that it would sue the state treasury if it complied with ASZ’s decision.
