freedom house

March 05, 2010, 10:15 CET

Parties spent Ft 400 million on election campaigns so far

Hungary's parties campaigning for the two rounds of the April general election have so far spent a combined 400 million forints (EUR 1.4 m), anti-corruption NGOs said on Thursday. Representatives of Freedom House, Transparency International and the Karoly Eotvos Political... [read complete entry]

January 27, 2010, 09:43 CET

Transparency International to track campaign spending

Transparency International, Freedom House and the Károly Eötvös Research Institute will publish their estimates of political parties' expenses during the election campaign. Noémi Alexa, head of Transparency's Hungarian office, said the NGOs want to demonstrate that the current law cannot... [read complete entry]

January 13, 2010, 09:38 CET

Freedom House calls Hungary a stable democracy in latest report

Hungary continues to be a stable democracy, human rights watchdog Freedom House says in its latest report, in which it awards the country top marks for the respect of political and civil rights. Hungary, Bulgaria and Latvia were the CEE... [read complete entry]

November 06, 2009, 01:16 CET

The Politics.hu Interview: Bálint Molnár, Freedom House Europe

Yesterday's news of the collapse of cross-party talks over campaign finance reform again put the spotlight on the murky nexus between money and elections in Hungary. The negotiations, which were taking place in advance of next year's general elections, were... [read complete entry]

November 05, 2009, 10:32 CET

NGOs cancel cross-party talks on campaign finance, claim Fidesz at fault

Transparency International (TI) and Freedom House will not recommence last week’s failed cross-party talks on campaign funding. The international civil groups said they made the decision after Fidesz gave no substantive response to their reform proposals, but underlined that they... [read complete entry]

November 02, 2009, 11:21 CET

Fidesz proposes election finance reforms

The main opposition Fidesz and its Christian Democrat ally reject the idea of raising the funds available for campaign financing but advocate plans to shorten the election campaign and cut its costs, a senior Fidesz official told a press conference... [read complete entry]

November 02, 2009, 10:47 CET

Justice minister calls for more transparent public procurement

An anti-graft bill submitted earlier this week is expected to ensure that public procurement procedures are clear and fair while dishing out appropriate penalties for transgressors, Justice Minister Tibor Draskovics told journalists at the weekend. Anyone who uses underhand means... [read complete entry]

October 27, 2009, 11:04 CET

Parties debate proposal on reforming campaign finance system

Hungary's parliamentary parties at talks on Monday failed to agree on a proposal by two international NGOs to clean up campaign financing, with the main opposition saying they would come back to the table in a week's time. The five... [read complete entry]

October 22, 2009, 09:31 CET

Socialists say early passage of campaign finance bill a priority

The Socialist Party would like Parliament to pass a bill on campaign funding as soon as possible, caucus director József Tóbiás told Népszabadság on Wednesday. He said Socialist officials will attend talks initiated by Freedom House and Transparency International Hungary... [read complete entry]

October 08, 2009, 11:31 CET

NGOs urge cleanup of Hungary's campaign financing system

Hungarian political parties should agree on adopting more transparent campaign-financing rules, two international NGOs said on Thursday. Freedom House Europe and Transparency International held a joint news conference to urge the ruling Socialists and main opposition Fidesz to create legislation... [read complete entry]

July 01, 2009, 09:47 CET

Freedom House "democracy rating" for Hungary declines

Hungary was graded down in a democracy rating by the independent US-based Freedom House in a report published on Tuesday. The report warns of radicalisation tendencies in Hungarian politics. "Democratic institutions are robust and likely to hold despite reckless party... [read complete entry]

May 04, 2009, 10:39 CET

Freedom House rates Hungarian media "free"

The Hungarian press has retained its "free" qualification in the annual report on global press freedom released by the non-profit human rights organisation Freedom House in Washington on Friday.... [read complete entry]

April 30, 2009, 10:12 CET

UK envoy bemoans failures of Hungarian campaign finance system

There are no signs that Hungary's political parties have the political will to reform campaign financing to make it more transparent, British Ambassador to Hungary Gregory Dorey told a workshop on party and campaign financing in Budapest on Wednesday.... [read complete entry]

January 28, 2009, 09:36 CET

Transparency International, foreign gov'ts to fund reporting on party financing

Anti-corruption groups Transparency International (TI) and Freedom House (FH) are organising cohesion among Hungarian investigative journalists. The project is also supported by the embassies of the UK and the Netherlands in Budapest. The joint investigation team will attempt to uncover... [read complete entry]

January 13, 2009, 09:42 CET

Freedom House praises Hungary in latest report

Hungary was a stable democracy last year, scoring maximum points in the field of political and civil rights, the independent Washington-based Freedom House institute writes in its annual global human rights report released on Monday.... [read complete entry]

September 12, 2008, 08:57 CET

U.S. Ambassador urges Hungary to rethink Russia pipeline talks

Hungary should consider suspending its negotiations with Russia over the South Stream natural gas pipeline, United States Ambassador April H Foley told MTI on Thursday.... [read complete entry]

July 07, 2008, 09:40 CET

Hungary remains a stable democracy according to Freedom House report

Despite some concerns, Hungary's position as a stable democracy has remained unchanged. [read complete entry]