In recent months, the Sovereignty Protection Office investigated Transparency International (TI) Hungary, the Hungarian foundation of Transparency International's global network, which tends to portray Hungary as the "most corrupt country in Europe" on the international stage.
Foreign funds, foreign interests
We understand that the report is being finalized and may be published soon. The foundation did not cooperate with the Sovereignty Protection Office in the investigation. TI Hungary executive director Jozsef Peter Martin, a former well-known leftist-liberal economic journalist and editor-in-chief, told Mozgo Vilag in an interview that they refuse to allow access to some of their contracts, for example. TI Hungary refused to cooperate in general, saying that the sovereignty protection law is "unnecessary" (!) and "contrary to EU standards". The legislation, adopted by the parliament last year, was instantly attacked by left-wing organizations.
The transparency of the foundation is all the more important because the foundation's financial report from last year shows that the donations - without the donations of one percent of personal income tax individuals can give - received from domestic supporters (from companies, individuals) account for an insignificant proportion, only 1.7 percent in its annual income of roughly 100 million forints. In other words, the foundation is predominantly funded from abroad, is integrated into a global lobbying network and used to exert political pressure on Hungary, the recent report by the Sovereignty Protection Office shows. Their major donors include, for example, George Soros' Open Society Foundations and the European Commission. (We will look at the intertwining of TI Hungary and Soros's network in tomorrow's article.) The foundation is also directly supported by Western countries.
The differences of opinion between the office and the foundation were already apparent in August, when Tamas Lanczi, president of the Sovereignty Protection Office, and Miklos Ligeti, legal director at TI Hungary, debated at the Tranzit festival in Tihany.
According to information obtained by the Mandiner portal, Ligeti performed badly in the event and his suitability was called into question within TI.
Deep state toolkit
According to the information we obtained, the main findings in the office's report include:
- TI was set up in the early 1990s as part of an international network through the World Bank, primarily to serve US economic and political interests. Along with the US National Endowment for Democracy and the German Marshall Fund, it is part of the same circle of deep state agencies that last year's Hungarian national security report identified as posing national security risks.
This was established after an inquiry into the role of Action for Democracy in helping the Hungarian opposition in 2022 from abroad, drawing on deep state instruments. What both organizations have in common is the aspiration to discredit Hungary's current leadership - Orban's government - on the international stage, and to bring about a change of government in Hungary through undemocratic means.
- TI's Hungarian foundation is a non-transparent organization, which was established in the form of an association back in the 1990s by the Hungarian connections of global circles, and those of the Free Democrats and 'impex' (export-import companies) circles, and was run to 'oil' the privatization process.
- TI's "Corruption Perceptions Index" is a scientifically questionable methodology for reporting subjective opinions and thus for manipulating, as well as for disinforming international forums and the press. Discrediting Hungary causes damage to the country's economy. The German researcher who developed the index later turned his back on TI, and has since used a revised methodology approved by the European Commission.
(To be continued.)
Cover photo: Jozsef Peter Martin, executive director, at a conference held by the Transparency International Hungary in a Budapest restaurant on December 9, 2019 (Photo: MTI/Balazs Mohai)
