BRUSSELS – The European Union on Thursday took an important step toward fining Hungary for refusing to lift restrictions on the financing of non-governmental organizations from abroad.
The step comes after the EU's top court ruled that restrictions imposed by the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the foreign financing of independent groups are incompatible with the 27-nation bloc's law.
Many of the groups focus on civil rights and democracy issues. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, is sending a “letter of formal notice” to the nationalist government in Budapest giving it two months to explain why it’s not complying.