Hungarians Protest Orban Plans to Crush Civil Society, Media

Hungarians demonstrated in Budapest against Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s escalating campaign to muzzle critics less than a year before elections.

Thousands attended a rally on Sunday in front of the parliament building after the ruling party introduced a bill to cut funding to civil society and media that receive money from abroad and which are deemed a threat to Hungary’s sovereignty. Those groups have criticized the bill, likening it to efforts by President Vladimir Putin to crack down on domestic rivals in Russia.