Hungary raids NGOs, accuses Norway of political meddling

By Marton Dunai and Balazs Koranyi BUDAPEST/OSLO (Reuters) - Hungarian government agents on Monday raided the offices of three non-government organizations that help distribute Norwegian grants in a conflict that has soured bilateral relations. The Norway Grants, an agreement between the EU and Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein about funding projects in less-developed European economies, have financed organizations that have criticized Hungary's government heavily in recent years. Critics of Prime Minister Viktor Orban say his center-right Fidesz party has been entrenching its hold on power since an election victory in 2010, eroding the independence of institutions such as the judiciary and the central bank. The government rejects this charge and says the Norway Grants found their way to a small green-liberal party, Politics Can Be Different (LMP), which scraped over the 5 percent minimum threshold with 5.3 percent of the vote in April's elections. Read More http://ift.tt/1n4NnPs