The EU’s most prominent hard-right pressure group has received millions of euros in financial support from sources linked to Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, new financial disclosures show.
A transparency register listing filed by MCC Brussels this week confirmed that the think tank had received more than €6 million last year “to acquaint and influence European policy makers with its distinct approach towards the political, socio-economic and cultural issues of our time.”
More than 99 percent of those funds, effectively the group’s entire operating budget, was given as part of a grant from Mathias Corvinus Collegium Alapítvány —a Budapest-based educational institution controlled by close political allies of Orbán.
The institution’s board chair is Balázs Orbán, who serves as political director to the Hungarian prime minister. (While the two share a last name, they are not related.) POLITICO reported in 2023 that MCC Brussels Executive Director Frank Füredi got the role after a chance meeting with Balázs Orbán in London and has vowed to use the platform to challenge the “EU mainstream,” including on climate change.
MCC Brussels, which describes itself as an autonomous think tank working on issues like migration, foreign policy, culture and environmental policy, has seven staff members who hold passes allowing them to access the European Parliament. That requires the organization to provide information on its finances.
The disclosure comes after a protracted row over transparency and lobbying. MCC Brussels had faced allegations from the Corporate Europe Observatory that it was refusing to comply with requirements under the EU transparency register and declare its lobbying spending.
MCC Brussels has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and said in July it intended to make a declaration for last year’s finances — which it has now done. The group had previously used an exemption that allows newly formed entities to bypass the disclosure system, while simultaneously advocating that other NGOs be stripped of cash and that an Elon Musk-style DOGE unit cut spending.
“We have always been transparent: all of our activity is in the public domain,” John O’Brien, a spokesperson for MCC Brussels, told POLITICO.
“Our reports and investigations are publicly available, our YouTube channel is active and robust, and every public meeting is detailed on our website and social media. That is how we use our funds — to contribute meaningfully and, I would argue, to make debate in the Brussels bubble more dynamic and engaging.”
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