Freie Ungarische Botschaft and Political Parties

The organizational mission of the Freie Ungarische Botschaft (FUB) is to restore the democratic rule of law and to create a society of solidarity in Hungary—from abroad.

The group aims to achieve this goal as a civil society organization. One cornerstone of our independence is our relationship to political parties. The FUB has no intention to assume or exercise any form of public power. The association also refrains from supporting organizations in their efforts to assume or exercise public authority.

The purpose of the FUB is to raise awareness and to disseminate information, to build alliances with other organizations as well as to turn European and particularly German public attention to the Hungarian situation. The association can only be successful in fulfilling this purpose if it remains independent, impartial and makes its affairs with political parties transparent to the public.

Guiding principles regarding political parties and elections:

The FUB sees German and Hungarian political parties and their representatives who share its core values as important partners, and actively seeks cooperation with them. Nevertheless, it never commits itself to any candidates or nominating organizations in any elections whose purpose is to pursue public office (mandate in an organ of popular representation or position in a governmental body) neither in Hungary, nor in Germany, nor at the European level. This excludes the appraisal of candidates, nominating organizations and their programs strictly on the basis of professional criteria in alignment with the aims of the FUB.
Board members and any persons publicly representing the association may neither run in any election whose purpose is to pursue public office nor perform a key function in a political party or publicly represent it. In the case that a member should choose to run in such an election, they are obliged to inform the FUB board four months prior to the expected date of that election, and are to resign from any such functions in the FUB.
The FUB does not develop party platforms, and its members and associates do not participate in developing such platforms in the name of the association. In the case that the FUB assesses parts of party platforms pertaining to its programs or function, the result of that assessment will be made publicly available on its web site.
The FUB may share its official opinion with representatives of any political party.
The FUB board has the authority to approve or disapprove any participation or publicly held speech at a political party’s event. The main consideration regarding this decision is whether such participation poses a risk of the FUB committing itself to a candidate or a nominating organization, or appearing to do so.
Representatives of political parties may be invited to public events organized by the FUB if the topic of the event justifies this participation. In the case that a speaker at a FUB public event is a representative of a political party, the association will strive to strike a balance of voices by adjusting the list of participants for the event or event series accordingly. This rule also applies to events jointly hosted by the FUB and other organizations and it is a necessary condition of any such joint undertaking.
The FUB does not organize events collaboratively nor does it participate in joint engagements with any political party, political party foundation or any organizational unit thereof nor with any elected official¹ of a political party.
The FUB maintains a register of inquiries received from political parties and other nominating organizations, political candidates as well as persons holding mandates in an organ of popular representation or holding public offices in a government body in Germany or in Hungary, as well as registering answers provided to these inquiries. The register also contains any enquiries the FUB directed at such persons or organizations. The register is updated at least semiannually and is publicly available.
The FUB does not accept any direct or indirect cash or in-kind donations from political parties or political party foundations registered in Hungary or the elected officials thereof. In the case that a political party or a political party foundation registered outside of Hungary offers a donation², the FUB can only accept this with consideration of maintaining a balance between parties. The details of any such contributions will be published on the FUB’s website.
The FUB does not collect or otherwise provide any donations to political parties or political party foundations registered in Hungary or the elected officials thereof.

This document is based on the statement “A TASZ és a politikai pártok (Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and Political Parties)”.

This regulation comes into effect on 24.02.2020.

¹ Elected office is an office assumed as a result of in-party elections, or a public office (member of parliament, municipal representative, mayor etc.).

² Any contribution is considered a donation, which includes funds awarded through grants or other awards.