Left's foreign financing draws more than legal sanctions

The majority of Hungarian people and even opposition voters condemn left-wing parties for receiving foreign funding, an analyst from the Center for Fundamental Rights told Magyar Nemzet. According to Janos Zila, the inter-party relations of the left-wing election coalition will not be affected, even if the parties are eventually penalized.

20220403 budapest mujegpalya ellenzeki kormany varo havran zoltan magyar nemzet Fotó: Havran Zoltán

In connection with the so-called "rolling dollars" case, the fact that illegal campaign financing took place was not only established by the State Audit Office, but was also condemned by a significant portion of the electorate, so the punishment borne by the parties is twofold,

Janos Zila told Magyar Nemzet after it emerged that the six parties running a joint list in the 2022 parliamentary elections could be fined 3.2 billion forints (approx 8.6 million euros) for receiving foreign funding.

According to the analyst at the Center for Fundamental Rights, the behavior of political forces canvassing with foreign money, and thus becoming pawns of foreign influence,

entails more than just legal sanctions, as the majority of the Hungarian people, including even their own voters, condemn them, which is reflected in the opposition parties' popularity figures.

"In addition, new information about the foreign funding may soon come to light, which, based on what we know so far, could prove that the Hungarian left election coalition parties were not only "innocent" beneficiaries of the four billion forints in financing, but knew exactly what they were part of. This evidence could dissuade newer voters from supporting the opposition, which is bad news for them ahead of next year's elections," said Mr  Zila, who recalled:

the financing of political parties is being investigated by the State Audit Office in accordance with the relevant laws, and if illegal party financing is discovered, it obliges the guilty party to pay the illicit amount into the budget.

"The relevant law has already been used in the past. In 2018, the Jobbik party received a fine of 600 million forints (1.6 million euros) for the use of unlawful support. If the breach is proven, the parties cannot escape the consequences of their actions."

Left’s former prime ministerial candidate may go unpunished

"The act on the operation and management of parties under which the above-mentioned fines could be imposed does not apply to associations, so Peter Marki-Zay’s movement cannot be punished based on them."

"As the Left’s failed prime ministerial candidate has said, their role was precisely to circumvent the legislation."

"With that said, they are also subject to the above-mentioned political consequences, as Marki-Zay’s voter rejection is rather significant," Janos Zila opined.

The fact of the fine will probably not have a substantial impact on the internal relationships of the Left, as its basic framework is determined by the requirements of the financiers, regardless of minor quarrels.

We have seen that while the form of cooperation has changed following last year's historic electoral defeat, there is still full agreement on the most important issues, and we can expect no change in this either.

On the big issues that most affect the daily lives of voters, such as the war and the renewed focus on migration, opposition figures continue to take a position that is contrary to the will of the majority of people and in line with the US Left's stance: they support war over peace and illegal immigration over border security, the analyst at the Center for Fundamental Rights stressed.

Cover photo: Zoltan Havran