Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC)

The Hungarian parliament passed the “Stop Soros” law on June 20, 2018. The law made it a criminal offence for an organization or individual to aid or support migrants and asylum seekers entering the country. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the law and claimed the law violated the right to freedom of expression and freedom of association, which are guaranteed by Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. ⁴

Background

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is a human rights organization based in Hungary. The organization was founded in 1989, and in 1994, it began working on issues such as criminal justice, asylum, and wrongful detention, while providing free legal assistance and other help to refugees, detainees, persons it characterized as “victims of law enforcement violence,” and victims of discrimination. ^{1 2}

HHC’s focus areas include the protection of the rule of law, rights of refugees, rights of detainees, and monitoring law enforcement practices. It claims on its website that it also assists people whose human rights have been violated by the Hungarian government. ²

The organization has a total of 35 legal professionals as of 2025, and notes that alongside free legal assistance, HHC conducts research, advocacy, monitoring, and “capacity-building activities.” ²

HHC is a member of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. ⁵

“Stop Soros” Opposition

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee filed two applications before the European Court of Human Rights, regarding Hungary’s “Stop Soros” legislation, in September 2018. ⁴

The Hungarian parliament passed the “Stop Soros” law on June 20, 2018, during the government of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The law made it a criminal offence for an organization or individual to aid or support migrants and asylum seekers entering the country. The law also added a 25 percent tax on funding that supported organizations that “promote migration.” ⁴

HHC’s complaint to the ECHR claimed that the law violated the right to freedom of expression and freedom of association, which are guaranteed by Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Court enforces. ⁴

The Court of Justice of the European Union found in November 2021 that the “Stop Soros” law breached European Union (EU) law, after the European Commission, the main executive arm of the EU that functions mainly to administer and implement EU policies and legislation, challenged the Hungarian government in court. ⁶

HHC said in a statement that it welcomed the decision, and that it had “helped 1,800 asylum-seekers” since the law had passed in 2018. ⁶

HHC has received funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a private grantmaking foundation created and funded by billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros, after whom the Hungarian “Stop Soros” law was named. ³

According to the Open Society Foundations’ grant database, HHC has received a total of $2,579,885 in funding from the foundation and its affiliates, such as the Foundation to Promote Open Society, from 2016 to 2022. The largest OSF donation to HHC was worth $850,000 in 2019. ³

Social Issues

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, in a coalition with Amnesty International Hungary, the Hatter Society, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, challenged a Hungarian law introduced in 2021 that banned the promotion of homosexuality or gender reassignment to under-18s. An amendment to the law in 2025 added a ban on public events involving LGBT individuals, including the Budapest Pride march. ^{7 8} The European Court of Justice ruled that the law breached EU law, including the rights to freedom of expression and information. ⁸

Ferenc Koszeg is one of the founders of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the founder of the Alliance of Free Democrats, a Hungarian left-of-center political party that operated between 1988 and 2013. ⁵ During a 2016 interview with Partizan, a Hungarian independent media outlet, Koszeg stated that the Hungarian government’s “child protection measures serve the purposes of a hate campaign against sexual difference.” ⁵

HHC responded by stating that Koszeg’s words were “in direct contradiction” with the organization’s values, and that he did not “speak on behalf of the organization.” ⁵

Funding

According to its 2024 annual report, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee receives funding from private foundations, as well as governments. ⁹

The organization received a total of HUF 508,065,54 (approximately $1,683,076) in 2024, including HUF 34,508,336 (around $114,194) from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and HUF 50,586,752 (around $167,266) from the European Commission. ⁹

The organization also received HUF 112,611,200 (approximately $372,385) from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, HUF 115,842,000 (around $383,130) from the Oak Foundation, and HUF 26,844,263 (approximately $88,774) from the National Endowment for Democracy. ⁹

HHC also received £1,785,000 (around $2,43 million) from the Sigrid Rausing Trust since 2017, as well as a grant of £300,000 (around $409,327) in February 2026. ¹