Transparency International Hungary on Soros Leash for Decades

Transparency International (TI) in Hungary is largely funded by George Soros's institutions and the European Commission, and the organization's corruption findings discrediting Hungary are then used in Brussels's reports condemning Hungary. This is the way it operates, according to the information contained in the Sovereignty Protection Office's upcoming report on the self-professed "independent" foundation. But the soon-to-be released report also reveals that TI was linked to SZDSZ circles in Hungary from the outset, and that at times the foundation literally collapsed when Soros did not send the dollars.

George Soros (Photo: AFP)

Soros giveth and Soros taketh away

In its three-decade history, TI in Hungary has been linked from the very beginning to the circles pushing privatization, politically to the Hungarian Social Democrats (SZDSZ) and to the Soros network. From the 1990s until the time of the Gyurcsany government, it operated as an association.

The report of the Sovereignty Protection Office also highlights the following, according to our information:

* The TI association in Hungary had not even been established when for years the Hungarian contact person of the international TI organization had been Peter Hack, then MP of SZDSZ [the Social Democratic Party of Hungary]. (Hack later saw the situation of TI realistically: he who pays the piper calls the tune...)

* TI's perspectives appeared in the 1994 election campaign of SZDSZ .

* One of the association's presidents was Adam Tertak, who a few years later became dean of the business school at Soros's private university (CEU), and whose biography also states he is the founder of the American Chamber of Commerce's charitable foundation.

* During Hungary's Gyurcsany government (when the then prime minister's image in the US was still favorable), TI's Hungarian association was dissolved without a legal successor, because its main sponsor Soros withdrew his support (Did corruption suddenly disappear in Hungary...?). In any case, they even returned their computers to him.

* However, a few years later (when the US view of Ferenc Gyurcsany became tarnished), the Hungarian chapter of TI was re-established (Due to a sudden revival of corruption...?), in the form of a foundation. Its current annual budget is about 100 million forints (about 250 thousand euros).

Paid for and then used

The report of the Sovereignty Protection Office also reveals the very simple operating principle by which Transparency International in Hungary, which presents itself as "independent" and "transparent", is run by the main international adversaries of the country.

In return, as we wrote yesterday, TI Hungary provides them with reports using what the Sovereignty Protection Office deems to be a scientifically questionable corruption perception index. Information in these reports are then included in the Brussels country reports condemning Hungary, which can then be used by EU institutions to launch proceedings against Hungary.

One case in point is the Sargentini report in the European Parliament. Through their operations, TI is indirectly causing political and economic damage to our country.

According to the information Magyar Nemzet accessed about TI Hungary in the report on the investigation by the Sovereignty Protection Office, it is clear that:

* neither its funding nor its activities can be described as independent, and it is explicitly serving global interest groups.

* it cannot be described as transparent either, since the Foundation has refused to cooperate with the Sovereignty Protection Office and has not allowed access to its contracts with foreign entities.