Foreign agent laws require civil society groups and not-for-profits to register as paid agents of foreign interests when they receive funding from abroad. Russia’s 2012 foreign agents law “established a dangerous blueprint” for others to follow in Central and Eastern Europe, where attempts to try to implement similar laws have gathered pace.
According to Human Rights Watch, foreign agents’ laws are “a preferred instrument for authoritarians to extinguish critical voices, shield their rule from scrutiny, and strengthen their hold on power.” Foreign agent laws have been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, the European Parliament, the Venice Commission and multiple United Nations (UN) experts (among others).
But what’s it like being on the receiving end of them? And how are people pushing back?
Slovakia
In May 2025, Slovakia signed an Amendment to the Law on non-profit organisations, imposing new disclosure requirements and fines on NGOs receiving over €5,000 a year in foreign funding, labelled as “organisations with foreign support”. Following civil society pushback, key provisions were dropped, and the Constitutional Court ruled the law incompatible with the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Katarína Medľová, Research and Advocacy Team, Amnesty International Slovakia:
“Along with other NGOs we did as much advocacy locally and internationally as we could [to stop the law]. I did research and interviews with human rights defenders while it was in effect, and the main impacts included their capacity to conduct their services, and the chilling effect of publishing donors’ details.”
Lukáš Diko, editor-in-chief and chairman, Investigative Centre of Ján Kuciak (ICJK):
“One of the prerequisites of the foreign agents law was that every NGO had to report its donors. Luckily in the end this was not the case, but we prepared for it, including by discussing with lawyers how we could protect personal information. The journalist community has been trying to stay resilient against all this and to do our jobs as best as we can.”
Katarina Batková, Executive Director VIA IURIS:
“When [the law] was approved there was a lot of uncertainty and fear over complying with it. As a legal professional organisation we prepared manuals and organised ten workshops for more than 300 organisations.
There were huge protests against the law, and we managed to push the government to withdraw part of the legislation before it was approved, specifically the provision labelling NGOs as foreign agents. We called it a Russian law, because it was inspired by Russia and against the constitution and EU law. The government publicly stated it wasn’t a Russian law, which meant the media started talking about it, which was good because we don’t want Russian laws in Slovakia because we are part of the European Union.”
Tomas Madlenak of the Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak discusses how governments use ‘foreign agent’ laws to suppress those trying to hold power to account, and why other Western countries need to pay attention to what is happening.
Hungary
In May 2025 Hungary’s government proposed a Transparency of Public Life law allowing it to monitor, penalise and potentially ban organisations receiving foreign funding, including donations or EU grants. The European Commission called on Hungary to withdraw it, and after waves of public protests, the government backed down and delayed voting on the bill.
Tamás Bodoky, editor and director of Átlátszó, Hungary’s first non-profit investigative journalism outlet:
“The government started to systematically target independent media and critical NGOs’ financial sources. [The latest effort came] in early 2025 [with the Transparency of Public Life bill] which proposed that anyone sanctioned by the Sovereignty Protection Office, would lose the eligibility to receive foreign funds and even domestic tax contributions, which would leave a lot of organisations financially unviable. But there was a big opposition against this, and last June, the government postponed voting and the law did not come into effect.”
Dalma Dojcsák, Executive Director, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU):
“Because of serious past attacks, civil society and the free press were able to show our value in society and to mobilise public opinion. We had learned that it’s not enough to do good things. It’s also necessary to be able to show people – our supporters mainly – how we change lives, how we change the law, society and how what we do is important and valuable to society.
So, for example, my organisation talked about the free legal aid that we provide to thousands of people yearly. And we were able to communicate our clients’ individual stories over the years, and how their lives turned for the better. We were able to say to the hundreds of thousands of people who follow our work that if the government stops us from doing it, then these people will lose the benefits that we provide them. Their rights would be violated.”
Bulgaria
In 2025, Bulgaria’s parliament rejected the draft Foreign Agents Registration Bill (FARB), first proposed by the ultranationalist Vazrazhdane (“Revival”) party. Under the law ‘foreign agents’ would be defined not only as organisations, but individuals receiving more than 1,000 leva (around €500) from abroad within five years – including funds from relatives working abroad. The rejection has not marked the end of the legislative process, which can be resumed.
Nadia Shabani, Director, the Bulgarian Centre for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL):
“[BCNL] isn’t just working at a legislative level, but capacity building in communities: it’s not only about changing legislation, but mobilising people to push back against restrictions and be active in protecting the freedoms we already have.
In 2025, we spent a lot of time trying to stop attempts to restrict civic space, continuing the more defensive mode we’ve been in for a few years, rather than our normal role of being active agents of change and modernisation.
We started to organise and mobilise people to sign petitions. We see this as an opportunity: using the momentum we’ve built pushing against restrictive legislation and defending democracy for scaling up what we do.
My generation were considered the children of democracy, but now we have to protect it again.”
Nadia Shabani of the Bulgarian Centre for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) discusses the impact of ‘foreign agent’ laws on civil society, and the important role of trust in civic space.
Conclusion
Civil society resistance played a huge role in stopping foreign agents laws in Slovakia and Bulgaria, and helping them get postponed in Hungary, with Civitates’ grantee partners to the fore.
Civil society organisations that have been able to mobilise public support, challenge legislation through courts, and communicate how their work benefits ordinary people have been better positioned to push back. Coordinated action, strategic influencing of public narratives and sustained international scrutiny remain effective pathways to defend civic space.
This article is part of Civitates Annual Report 2025, which will be published in May 2026. To discover more stories like this one, stay in touch by signing up for our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.
