The opposition SaS party has criticised the shortening of the parliamentary debate on the amendment to the bill on non-profit organisations to just 12 hours, which means that the opposition will have less than six hours to express its stance on the proposal, MP Ondrej Dostal (SaS) warned on Tuesday.
Dostal believes that the coalition usually employs such a procedure when it wants to pass "some outrageous measure". SaS also reproached the coalition for the fact that the final version of the legislation will remain unknown until the last minute, as it's still waiting to see whether Hlas-SD will submit an amendment. Dostal thinks Hlas-SD has ultimately been "pressured" to toe the line by the rest of the coalition.
SaS emphasised that the proposal from SNS was originally intended as a so-called "foreign agent law", as its authors claimed that it's important for the public to know which organisations are supported from abroad. Eventually, a section about NGO lobbying was added to the law. Dostal pointed out that on Monday (April 14) coalition representatives were no longer speaking about foreign agents or lobbyists with respect to this bill. "Now it's allegedly about some non-transparent way in which money was allocated to help Ukrainian refugees," he said, adding that the lobbying section may end up being removed from the final version.
On Monday, representatives of Smer-SD and SNS called on Hlas-SD to show unity on this issue. "The fact that the proposal will be discussed is clear proof that Hlas has given in. Just days ago, Hlas representatives were saying that it might be postponed again until the May session, but the fact that it's going to be debated is a strong signal that some agreement has been made," added Dostal.
According to the amendment, non-profit organisations, foundations and associations with an annual income of over €35,000 will be required to submit a transparency report. The report should include information about individuals who have donated more than €5,000 to the organisation during the year.
The proposal also aims to regulate lobbying. Its sponsors say that the goal is to make the functioning of organisations more transparent. According to them, nothing in the proposed legislation would prevent NGOs from operating, and they reject claims that the bill has drawn its inspiration from Russian legislation.
MP Lucia Plavakova (PS) has called on coalition lawmakers to withdraw the proposed amendment, as she believes that it cannot be fixed in any way.
Speaking during the House debate on Tuesday, Plavakova claimed that the sole aim of the proposal is to intimidate and harass people involved in the non-profit sector.
"We consider this bill to be extremely serious in terms of its impact on human rights and the democratic foundations of Slovakia, which is why we are prepared to file a motion with the Constitutional Court," said Plavakova in her speech. She recalled that the proposal came to Parliament over a year ago, and its form has changed significantly since then. According to her, NGOs have been labelled as those who receive foreign funding or as lobbyists. "We support transparency, but it must apply to everyone," she declared, adding that the amendment targets only NGOs, however.
According to Plavakova, people in the non-governmental sector who work to change public policies are mainly driven by the good feeling of contributing to the development of society. She emphasised that these organisations take care of people whom the state "doesn't care about" and in areas where the state fails. She mentioned, for example, minorities, people with disabilities, and children born prematurely.
Ondrej Dostal (SaS) pointed out that the new legislation would introduce an administrative burden for NGOs by requiring them to publish data via the Free Information Act. "You want to divide NGOs into good and bad," he said to the coalition, adding that even those engaged in specific activities — such as protecting nature or providing social services — occasionally speak out on public matters, especially when the issues concern them directly.
As of going to press it still remains uncertain if and when Parliament will vote on the amendment.
Source: TASR
