Hungary clamps down on independent reporting
On Tuesday, the National Assembly, in which Fidesz enjoys a two-thirds majority, passed a bill allowing for the establishment of a nongovernmental agency to manage public assets and 32 similar foundations. Many foundations would take over the running of state universities — including affiliated institutions such as hospitals. Others would be entrusted with tasks covering most areas of public life, from education, art and media to family, youth and sport, and the environment and agriculture to the economy and international relations and the support of Hungarian minorities abroad.
As a result, every future Cabinet would have to share part of its power with a "parallel government run by Viktor Orban and embedded and hidden deeply in the administration," the lawyer and former opposition MP Andras Schiffer wrote.