A right-wing think tank associated with former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n has been suspended from the EU\u2019s lobbyist and campaign database after allegations that it failed to disclose financial details, including its sources of funding. <\/p>\n
In an email sent to the group by the secretariat of the EU\u2019s Transparency Register, seen by POLITICO, the watchdog confirmed MCC Brussels had been suspended from the register, News.Az<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n The decision \u201cmight deprive you of the opportunity to \u2026 have certain meetings in the EU institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Being de-listed from the lobbying database could mean no longer being eligible to sit on expert groups convened by the European Commission to discuss key files or in committee hearings held by the European Parliament, the message adds.<\/p>\n The suspension from the Transparency Register comes after the Corporate Europe Observatory\u00a0lodged\u00a0a complaint alleging that MCC Brussels failed to disclose its funding sources. It also accused the think tank of \u201cspreading Orb\u00e1n regime propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n Launched in 2022, MCC Brussels received more than \u20ac6 million in 2024\u00a0according to a funding disclosure\u00a0\u201cto acquaint and influence European policy makers with its distinct approach towards the political, socio-economic and cultural issues of our time.\u201d Almost all of that funding came from the Budapest-based Mathias Corvinus Collegium educational institution\u00a0controlled by close political allies\u00a0of Orb\u00e1n.<\/p>\n In a statement, MCC Brussels\u2019 founder and executive director Frank Furedi said it \u201chas faced relentless attempts to marginalise, isolate and silence our work because we challenge prevailing orthodoxies.\u201d The group describes itself as taking a critical stance on EU climate change policy and last year hosted an event in the parliament entitled \u201cThe Trans Ideology Threat,\u201d hosted by Fidesz MEP Andr\u00e1s L\u00e1szl\u00f3.<\/p>\n MCC Brussels communication director John O\u2019Brien branded the decision as \u201cpolitical from the beginning\u201d and insisted the complaint \u201ccame from an activist organization that has campaigned against MCC Brussels, has received support from networks associated with George Soros\u2019s Open Society Foundations, and openly opposes the ideas we defend.\u201d<\/p>\n The Transparency Register maintains a list of more than 17,500 organizations campaigning and lobbying on EU policy, obliging them to make regular financial disclosures and abide by a code of conduct.<\/p>\n MCC Brussels said it would \u201cimmediately challenge the decision through all available appeal mechanisms.\u201d<\/p>\n