Open Society Fund Prague is a left-of-center nonprofit foundation founded by George Soros that was part of Open Society Foundations from 1992 to 2012. ¹

The foundation currently has a financial capital of approximately 101,700,000 Czech crowns (around $4.5 million)² and claims that it contributed 1.2 billion crowns (approximately $52 million) towards supporting Czech non-governmental organizations (NGOs) between 1992 and 2012. ³

Background

The Open Society Fund Prague (OSF-Prague), also known as Nadace Open Society Fund Praha, is a left-of-center nonprofit foundation founded in 1992 by George Soros as part of his Open Society Foundations (OSF) network. ⁴

OSF-Prague left the Open Society Foundations in 2012 after Soros’s support for the Czech foundation ceased. Since then, OSF-Prague has continued to operate as an independent foundation, working in partnership with organizations such as Microsoft, Google, and Ashoka. Despite being removed from the network, OSF-Prague still lists Open Society Foundations as one of its “major donors.” ⁵

Funding

Open Society Fund Prague has a current financial capital of around 101,700,000 Czech crowns (approximately $4.5 million) according to the Czech financial and investment website Kurzy. ⁶ It receives funding from multiple sources including private foundations and organizations. George Soros’s Open Society Foundations has listed OSF-Prague’s expenditures on some of its annual reports.

The foundation had $3,581,000 in expenditures in 1999 with $945,000 spent on educational programs, $467,000 for art and cultural programs, and $421,000 on “civil society.” ⁷ OSF-Prague had $3,274,000 in expenditures in 2000 with $623,000 spent on “education” while $425,000 was used for “civil society,” and $388,000 for “youth programs.” According to the annual report, other “non-Soros entities” paid for $118,804 of the expenditures. ⁸ The foundation had an expenditure amount of $2,959,000 in 2001, $468,000 of which was spent on “civil society,” $399,000 OSF-Prague spent on “education,” and $326,000 spent on “culture.” Other “non-Soros entities” paid for $92,040 of the expenditures. ⁹ The foundation’s expenditures in 2002 amounted to $3,820,000 with $539,000 spent on “civil society,” $380,000 on “education,” and $368,000 on “law.” Other “non-Soros entities” contributed $143,192 to the total expenditure. ¹⁰

As of its 20th anniversary in September 2012, Open Society Fund Prague contributed 1.2 billion crowns (approximately $52 million) towards supporting Czech NGOs and individuals who worked on nearly 10,000 projects during those 20 years. ¹¹

OSF-Prague was named in 2019 as one of the organizations that would be the fund operator for the Active Citizens Fund; a left-of-center grant program that focuses on “acceptance and enforcement of systemic changes,” mainly in the areas of citizenship, left-progressive social policy, and the environment. ¹²

The Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation and the Czech Scouting Institute are the organizations that sit alongside OSF-Prague as the fund operators for the Czech Republic-based variant of the program, which was designated approximately €13 million (approximately $15 million) in grant support. ¹³

Open Society Fund Prague, along with Open Society Foundation Bratislava, Glopolis, and the NIOK Foundation, created a consortium in 2020 to jointly implement the “Stronger Roots for Civil Society” grant program. ¹⁴

The program requires the applying civil society organizations to be based in either the Czech Republic, Hungary, or the Slovak Republic, and must adhere to “the principles of democracy and human rights” and must represent the “aggregate interests of civil society groups” in one of those three countries. ¹⁵

Political Activities

Open Society Fund Prague signed a joint letter in February 2018, alongside approximately 250 NGOs, to express “grave concern” with the Hungarian government’s proposal of a “legislative pack of three laws, commonly referred to as ‘Stop Soros.’”¹⁶

According to the letter, the legislation would require organizations that “support migration” to acquire national security clearance and a permit, as well as require organizations to pay a 25 percent tax on any foreign funding aimed at “supporting migration.” ¹⁷

Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter noted that the legislation was created to “combat illegal immigration and the activities that aid it,” adding that the legislation would make the “organization of illegal immigration a criminal offense.” ¹⁸

1. “History of OSF Prague,” Nadace OSF, November 5, 2019, https://osf.cz/en/history-of-osf-prague/.
2. Kurzy.cz, “Nadace Open Society Fund Praha , Praha IČO 47611804 – Obchodní Rejstřík Firem,” Obchodní rejstřík firem, justice.cz, accessed October 11, 2020, https://rejstrik-firem.kurzy.cz/47611804/nadace-open-society-fund-praha/.
3. “Two Decades of Strengthening Open Society in the Czech Republic,” Open Society Foundations, accessed October 11, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/two-decades-strengthening-open-society-czech-republic.
4. “History of OSF Prague,” Nadace OSF, November 5, 2019, https://osf.cz/en/history-of-osf-prague/.
5. “Partners,” Nadace OSF, November 28, 2019, https://osf.cz/en/partners/.
6. Kurzy.cz, “Nadace Open Society Fund Praha , Praha IČO 47611804 – Obchodní Rejstřík Firem,” Obchodní rejstřík firem, justice.cz, accessed October 11, 2020, https://rejstrik-firem.kurzy.cz/47611804/nadace-open-society-fund-praha/.
7. “OSF 1999 Annual Report,” OpenSocietyFoundations.org, accessed October 11, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/412c28db-668c-4bcc-95be-0c7fdb4cc4a6/a_a_complete_99_0.pdf.
8. “OSF 2000 Annual Report,” OpenSocietyFoundations.org, accessed October 11, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/5e4f2b5f-075a-4190-ad2f-25bc95f64255/a_complete_8.pdf.
9. “OSF 2001 Annual Report,” OpenSocietyFoundations.org, accessed October 11, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/0025bb89-fc0b-4dd6-b134-5d861e9095ef/a_complete_9.pdf.
10. “OSF 2002 Annual Report,” OpenSocietyFoundations.org, accessed October 11, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/uploads/569ceb5a-5a08-472e-ac5f-00b0c0595cf2/a_complete_report_0.pdf.
11. “Two Decades of Strengthening Open Society in the Czech Republic,” Open Society Foundations, accessed October 11, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/two-decades-strengthening-open-society-czech-republic.
12. “Call for Proposals on Strategic Grants – Czech Republic,” fundsforNGOs, September 13, 2019, https://www2.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/call-for-proposals-on-strategic-grants-czech-republic/.
13. “Call for Proposals on Strategic Grants – Czech Republic,” fundsforNGOs, September 13, 2019, https://www2.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/call-for-proposals-on-strategic-grants-czech-republic/.
14. “Stronger Roots for Civil Society Program for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary,” fundsforNGOs, May 12, 2020, https://www2.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/stronger-roots-for-civil-society-program-for-czech-republic-slovakia-and-hungary/.
15. “Stronger Roots for Civil Society Program for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary,” fundsforNGOs, May 12, 2020, https://www2.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/stronger-roots-for-civil-society-program-for-czech-republic-slovakia-and-hungary/.
16. “‘We Stand in Solidarity with Civil Society in Hungary,’” Human Rights Watch, February 19, 2018, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/19/we-stand-solidarity-civil-society-hungary.
17. “‘We Stand in Solidarity with Civil Society in Hungary,’” Human Rights Watch, February 19, 2018, https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/19/we-stand-solidarity-civil-society-hungary.
18. Reuters in Budapest, “Hungary Passes Anti-Immigrant ‘Stop Soros’ Laws,” The Guardian (Guardian News and Media, June 20, 2018), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/20/hungary-passes-anti-immigrant-stop-soros-laws.