"The Hungarian authorities" ongoing assault on NGO's has all the hallmarks of a witch-hunt… Angela Merkel must not miss the opportunity to challenge these practices this week," Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme Director John Dalhuisen, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The statement comes alongside a report on a crackdown on NGOs in Hungary, published at the same time as Merkel's visit to the country on Monday.
New Amnesty report: #EU must insist #Hungary ends NGO 'witch-hunt' + 'campaign against independent critical voices' http://t.co/rMtAuNrlqd
— AmnestyEurope (@amnestyeurope) February 2, 2015
Following the accusations, the government commissioned an audit on 59 NGOs, financed by Norwegian government backed funding.
Since then, the NGOs experienced hostile media reports, office raids and criminal investigations. Four NGOs in Hungary are currently facing legal proceedings.
Dalhuisen added that the audit was politically motivated with no evidence of "criminal wrong-doing or financial irregularities."
