The Biden administration is reportedly working with leftist megadonor George Soros to oust Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The U.S. Department of State recently entrusted organizations funded by Soros, such as the Ökotárs Foundation and Mérték Media Monitor to allocate more than $320,000 in taxpayer funds to 15 media outlets that criticize the Hungarian government. Such a decision comes as Hungary is set to hold local elections on June 9, 2024.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Hungarian political analyst András László wrote that “left-wing NGOs announce which Hungarian media outlets will receive direct financing from the US Embassy. More than a DOZEN, a total of 15 media will receive US taxpayer money.”
BREAKING: left-wing NGOs announce which Hungarian media outlets will receive direct financing from the 🇺🇸US Embassy.
More than a DOZEN, a total of 15 media will receive US taxpayer money, approximately USD 310.000. The announcement suggests that this is merely the first round of… pic.twitter.com/YwjdpNAVUD
— András László (@laszloan) January 27, 2024
Responding to László’s post, American journalist Rod Dreher said, “US taxpayers are funding anti-government media in Hungary, a NATO ally.”
Newsbusters reported that the Biden administration contracted the Soros-funded organizations to identify and evaluate Hungarian-based media outlets set to receive taxpayer-funded grants. The outlet pointed out that foreign nationals decide which non-
American entities would receive U.S. taxpayer funds.
The Ökotárs Foundation provided a translation supporting László’s claim that the U.S. Embassy in Budapest was involved in the matter.
“Following the approval of the supporting Embassy of the United States of America in Budapest, a decision was made regarding the applications received in the first call for applications operated by the Mért Media Analysis Workshop and the Ökotárs Foundation,” the organization wrote.
“A total of 32 applications were received by the deadline of November 15, 2023, of which 6 did not pass the formal inspection. Out of the 26 valid applications, the following 15 will now receive support, totaling HUF 115,608,880,” it added.
If the translation provided by the Ökotárs Foundation was not enough evidence to indicate the U.S. Embassy’s involvement, Mérték Media reported where the funding comes from.
“The Mérték Media Analysis Workshop and the Ökotárs Foundation (hereafter: Mérték and Ökotárs) are announcing a tender using the resources of the United States Embassy in Budapest to support Hungarian national and local independent media,” a translation on the group’s website reads.
Soros has funded the Ökotárs Foundation and Mérték Media. From 2017-2022, the Democratic megadonor has spent nearly $400,000 in funding to both organizations, according to Newsbusters.
