From Chilling Effect to Immediate Harm: Consequences of the Sovereignty Protection Act

In February 2024, the Civilisation coalition conducted a survey among its partner organisations to understand the threats posed by the recently enacted Sovereignty Protection Act for civil society organisations in Hungary and to assess how it affects their activities, strategies and funding. The responses already showed the existence of a chilling effect, and that the Sovereignty Protection Act imposes significant burdens on civil society organisations and actively impedes their activities. According to the results of the survey, the chilling effect of the law creates fear and self-regulation, hinders cooperation between organisations, and diverts resources away from the actual activities of the organisations. In these circumstances even EU funding can be perceived as a threat.

After the survey was conducted, in June 2024, the Sovereignty Protection Office launched an investigation against Transparency International Hungary and Átlátszó, the largest independent investigative organisation. The above effects of the Sovereignty Protection Act on Hungarian civil society organisations are likely to be exacerbated following the investigation against these two entities, especially given that a significant proportion of the questions sent to Transparency International Hungary focus on its activities in relation to EU institutions and mechanisms.

The summary of the survey results is available here:
From Chilling Effect to Immediate Harm: Consequences of the Sovereignty Protection Act (June 2024)