Soros’s Man in Berlin Leads Push for Brussels Retaliation Over Hungary’s Transparency Law

Several NGOs linked to George Soros are among the organizations that on Thursday sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging further punitive action against Hungary and the suspension of EU funds over the transparency law. At the forefront is the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, whose executive director, Balazs Denes, has previously stated that he lobbied against Hungary in Berlin, leveraging Hungarian jobs.

These organizations — including Open Society offshoots in Bratislava, Prague and Sofia, as well as several branches of Transparency International — claim they feel threatened by the law. 

They seek to launch an international campaign against the legislation, mobilizing mostly foreign entities. Among the domestic groups involved are the "usual suspects" that come forward in such contexts, like the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

They are urging the EU to deploy the full range of sanctions against Hungary, including:

• launching a new infringement procedure if the Hungarian government does not withdraw the bill at Brussels’s request;
• expanding the conditionality mechanism to withhold more EU funds;
• referring the case to the European Court of Justice; and
• triggering Article 7, the so-called "nuclear option," which could suspend Hungary's voting rights within the European Council.

Politico.eu noted in its Friday morning newsletter that the issue is scheduled to be discussed at the upcoming General Affairs Council meeting next Tuesday.

Balazs Denes Slips Up

The letter to Von der Leyen and Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath was clearly organized by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, registered in Germany and led by Balazs Denes. 

declared from Berlin.

In a previous video statement, Denes admitted to lobbying against Hungary in Berlin.

“If passed, this law would effectively erase what remains of Hungary’s democratic space. And if the European Commission, EU governments, and international institutions allow this to happen, they will be permitting a Putin-style authoritarian turn—inside the European Union,” Berlin-resident Denes said in a statement.

He is the same Soros ally who, as reported in 2018 by the Jerusalem Post,

admitted during a confidential meeting in Amsterdam that he had been urging the German Foreign Ministry to use German companies operating in Hungary (Mercedes, Audi, Bosch) to pressure the Orban government by threatening the elimination of jobs in Hungary.

Denes considered this lobbying essential to reversing laws targeting Soros-backed organizations — and he later confirmed the content of that conversation. 

“This week I’m meeting with a think tank representative who has influence over the German government and Foreign Ministry. I’ll bring them a freshly translated copy of the law and explain what they can do to stop it,”

he said.

Balazs Denes began his activism with TASZ/HCLU (Hungarian Civil Liberties Union) as a university student, later becoming the organization's president in 2004. He led the group’s drug policy program for six years and was a founding member of Kendermag, an association advocating for cannabis legalization. After 2010, he became a regular speaker at demonstrations by the opposition in Hungary, often in the role of a “civil society” representative.