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DK: AUDIT OFFICE 'THREATENS' TO STRIP PARTY OF FUNDING

 

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) on Saturday said that the National Audit Office (ÁSZ) was “threatening” to strip the party of its funding, “possibly for years”. László Sebián-Petrovszki, the party’s director, told an online press conference that ÁSZ was requesting documents which had been destroyed in a fire at the party headquarters in 2018, papers of which said the body already had copies. Sebián-Petrovszki noted that the government had cut all parties’ funding by half citing the novel coronavirus epidemic. ÁSZ is now “doubling the punishment”, he said. Sebián-Petrovszki insisted that the government was using the epidemic as a pretext to strip the largest opposition party of its funding. In response, ÁSZ said that the review of DK’s financial activities in 2017-2018 was in line with all regulations. The party director’s statement is “additional proof that the rule of law is functional” in Hungary, the statement said.