The End of the EEA-Hungary Friendship? Hungary continues to challenge internationally funded programmes

Marianne Grønning analyses in her blog Hungary's attitude towards international funding and influence in domestic affairs through the latest incident at the Energiaklub Climate Policy Institute.

• The EEA and Norway Grants funded Energiaklub Climate Policy Institute became a victim of Hungarian authorities trying to undermine the influence of international actors.
• Hungary’s hostile attitude towards international funding and involvement in domestic affairs remains unchanged.
• The current political climate in Hungary leaves the country prone to “illiberal democratic” practices, which is raising concerns among the EEA community.

Relations between the EEA countries and Hungary seemed to be friendly once again; however, this incident led many people to question whether or not Hungary really was willing to play by the rules, and if there would be more problems like this in the future.

Considering the great increase in nationalist sentiments we are currently witnessing, we should expect to see more attempts to limit indirect international influence, such as the EEA and Norway Grants, in Hungary.

The full article is available on BlogActiv.eu.

Marianne Grønning
Research Assistant