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The proposed amendment of the Hungarian constitution could result in the expulsion of Hungarians who hold nationalities from other countries if the government sees them as a danger to sovereignty.
Critics of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government who hold dual nationalities could face expulsion from the country, activists and NGO leaders fear, after the governing party announced its intention to amend the constitution as part of its latest political campaign. The move was revealed by the parliamentary group leader of the ruling party, Fidesz, Máté Kocsis, in a Facebook post on Sunday. “A Hungarian citizen who also holds the citizenship of another state may be expelled from the territory of Hungary under conditions specified by law if his or her activities endanger the national sovereignty, public order, territorial integrity or security of Hungary,” Kocsis’ post said, referring to the text of the proposed legislation.Kocsis further made it clear that the measure could be used against NGOs and journalists seen by the government as representatives of foreign interests. The politician indirectly also referred to Hungarian-born American investor and philanthropist George Soros. “In recent years, foreign powers and speculators have increasingly unscrupulously and widely interfered in the internal affairs of our country, even in electoral processes, and have also actively engaged in defamatory activities against Hungary throughout Europe,” Kocsis wrote. “They did this through pseudo-civil organisations, corrupt politicians, and media outlets that call themselves independent,” he claimed, without providing evidence. Other details of the draft law remain unknown, so it’s unclear which activities could qualify as endangering the national security or the sovereignty of the central European country. Public backlash and fears of losing citizenship aboundRepresentatives of the civic opposition to Orbán have already expressed frustration over the plans. Stefano Bottoni, a historian with dual Hungarian-Italian citizenship and a fierce critic of Orbán’s rule, said he was in shock. “I search for the words, but they don’t come. Rather, I feel a mixture of anger and anxiety,” Botton said. “Their nearly 15 years rule have prepared me for many things, but not for the fact that any citizen who thinks differently and is not exclusively Hungarian national, can be targeted,” he added. Bottoni, who authored the 2023 bestseller, “Obsessed with power: The Hungary of Viktor Orbán,” recalled historical parallels from the region, where states tried to get rid of their own citizens. The antisemitic campaigns in Poland in 1968-1969, where around 13,000 citizenships were revoked, resulted in mass deportations, are one clear example, he said. Bottoni called this development a “massive red line that could be seen even from the Moon” in a social media post. Another Orbán critic, Csaba Lukács, a journalist at the independent Magyar Hang weekly holding Romanian and Hungarian passports, said on social media he was afraid he might lose his Hungarian citizenship. “Well, it looks like our party and government may soon take away my Hungarian citizenship and expel me from Hungary,” Lukács said, comparing the plans to the rule of Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. Recently, Lukács ended up being summoned together with two other journalists to an interrogation by the country’s intelligence service after his paper falsely claimed the plane of the toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad had landed in Budapest. The paper later apologised for publishing fake news, but the government continued to target the outlet, calling it a danger to national security. Orbán boosted by Trump’s victoryThe latest campaign against activists of multiple nationalities is a part of a broader initiative to get rid of foreign-funded critics in Hungary. In the past, Orbán repeatedly referred to NGOs and independent media critical of him and his government as part of what he called a “Soros network” — a reference to the Hungarian-born liberal investor and philanthropist George Soros, often invoked by right-wing populists as a disruptive influence. However, after the electoral victory of US President Donald Trump, Orbán opted for decisive actions. In a radio speech on 7 February, he alleged that some Hungarians received foreign funding from Soros, the US government and Brussels to overthrow his government. “They need to be swept away. When, if not now,” Orbán “The entire Soros network needs to be dismantled … Those who accept this money need to be sanctioned.”In late February, the Hungarian prime minister appointed a government representative to review the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) work in Hungary and its funds. András László, a Fidesz MEP, is now investigating which organisations and media outlets in Hungary received funding from USAID programmes — another commonly invoked source of alleged disruptive actions. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday that he supported the proposed changes in the constitution and called for a law similar to the US Magnitsky Act to defend national interests. The exact text of the new legislation has not yet been made public, and the parliamentary vote is not scheduled at this time. The Fidesz-KDNP party alliance has an absolute majority in the parliament, and anything the governing party proposes might pass immediately.
