Experts tell Congress Hungary, Slovakia and El Salvador laws target dissent and threaten civic space

Daniel Hegedusch, regional director for Central Europe at the German Marshall Fund, told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission that anti‑NGO legislation in parts of Central Europe is not about transparency but about constraining public dissent.

"The real goal of anti‑NGO laws is simply public dissent," Hegedusch said. He described Slovakia's spring 2025 law as imposing "stricter transparency requirements and obligations than those faced by state institutions," and he cited the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights' finding that such rules "cannot be justified as necessary in any democratic society."

Hegedusch also detailed Hungary's multi‑year campaign: he said Hungary passed multiple laws since 2017 and in December 2023 created a Sovereignty Protection Office that, he testified, centralizes information‑gathering on independent media and civil society and may permit surveillance measures by intelligence services. He warned that forthcoming drafts would further block organizations critical of the government from receiving foreign and even EU funding.

In the hearing's Latin America testimony, Anna Maria Mendez Dardon, director for Central America at the Washington Office on Latin America, described how laws and associated tools have been used in Nicaragua and El Salvador. She said Nicaragua's post‑2018 measures and a 2020 foreign‑agent law contributed to the shutdown of roughly 5,000 of 7,000 registered NGOs. On El Salvador, she described the legislature's May 2025 foreign‑agents law, which she said imposes a 30% tax on international funds and gives broad powers to suspend or dissolve organizations.

Why it matters: witnesses said restrictions in NATO and EU member states erode alliance norms, while in Central America they have cut humanitarian assistance and pushed independent journalists and human‑rights defenders into exile. Hegedusch urged congressional steps including public bipartisan condemnation of anti‑NGO legislation in allied countries, restoring U.S. financial support for independent civil society in affected EU states and seeking targeted sanctions against parliamentary sponsors of repressive laws.

No formal congressional action was taken during the hearing. Panelists asked members to weigh diplomatic and assistance levers, and to consider the State Department and appropriations process to sustain independent groups under pressure.