New financial reports show that the European Union’s most prominent right-wing think tank has received millions of euros in funding from sources linked to Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Politico reports.
A transparency report filed by the think tank MCC Brussels shows that it received more than 6 million euros last year to influence European policymakers with its “particular approach to contemporary political, socio-economic and cultural issues.” More than 99%, or virtually the entire budget, of the think tank came from a grant from Hungary’s largest private university, Mathias Corvinus Collegium Alapítvány. The Budapest-based university is closely linked to Orbán’s political allies.
The university’s board of directors is chaired by Balázs Orbán, who is also a political advisor to the Hungarian prime minister. The two are not related. Politico reported back in 2023 that the director of MCC Brussels got his job after meeting with Balázs Orbán, after he promised to use the think tank to change the direction of EU thinking, including on climate change.
MCC Brussels describes itself as an independent think tank that works on issues of migration, foreign policy, culture and the environment. It has seven employees, all of whom have passes to enter the European Parliament. That is why the think tank must provide financial reports. MCC Brussels has already been criticized for refusing to comply with EU transparency requirements and failing to register and declare its spending on lobbying.
The think tank has denied wrongdoing and announced in July that it would prepare a financial report. Previously, MCC Brussels used exceptions that allowed newly founded organizations not to prepare reports. This did not prevent the think tank from demanding that other non-governmental organizations be left without funding.
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