State Secretary for International Communication and Relations Zoltán Kovács of Hungary has responded publicly to Dávid Korányi, the chief advisor of city diplomacy for the liberal Mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony.
Secretary Kovács originally took to the social media platform X to rebuke Korányi in a lengthy message. In it, he wrote: ‘Dávid Korányi’s idea of “democracy” is foreign meddling. His group spent billions to influence Hungary’s elections, but Hungarians rejected their agenda. These people just don’t get it. The victory of President Donald Trump and freezing of USAID funding—amidst the still unfolding revelations of the extent of their backing of partisan political and media ventures—marks a categorical rebuke of their ideological campaign. People have had enough. Their time is up,’ among other things.
Korányi has published an article on Time Magazine’s website, claiming that President Trump’s freezing of foreign funding by USAID ‘threatens global democracy’, as well as that it ‘marks a dangerous retreat from America’s defence of freedom around the world’.
Secretary Kovács has also posted another response, more elaborate than in his tweet, in his article on AboutHungary.com. In it, he goes on to write:
‘In his polemic article, Korányi laments the freezing of USAID funding under President Donald Trump, claiming it will weaken “democratic” movements around the world. But what he fails to mention is how these so-called democracy promotion efforts often serve as a cover for blatant political interference. And because they’re clearly taking sides—often against the will of the people—they ultimately undermine US influence. Hungary knows this firsthand: In 2022, Action for Democracy funnelled nearly 3 billion HUF in illicit foreign funding into Hungary’s opposition campaign in a failed attempt to unseat the government. This was the biggest campaign financing scandal in Hungarian history.
This is precisely the kind of foreign political meddling that Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Act was designed to counter. The Hungarian people have made their stance clear: 98 per cent of respondents in a national consultation supported efforts to protect the country’s democracy from foreign influence. Korányi and his allies, however, dismiss this as an “authoritarian” move because it prevents them from influencing elections with outside money.’
The Sovereignty Protection Act was passed by the Hungarian National Assembly in December 2023, which established the Sovereignty Protection Office. Its core mission is to stop Hungarian political and media organizations from receiving funding from foreign countries, and thus the foreign meddling into the domestic political affairs of Hungary from abroad.
Related articles:
