Soros Foundations Will No Longer Spend Money in the EU

The Open Society Foundations said that the EU countries do great job of financing socially important projects themselves. The network of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) winds down its activities in the EU. The granters’ budget for European projects will be reduced to a minimum because, according to the organization, Brussels and the member states spend a lot of money on solving social problems, supporting democracy and civic groups. According to the Hungarian service “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty”, the OSF board sent corresponding letters to all current beneficiaries last Friday. A spokesperson for the Hungarian LGBTQ Association said the reasons for this decision are not clear. “In my opinion, the reasoning is quite contradictory,” says Peter Hanzli, “The European Union likes to make various statements, but things are not so simple with the implementation. Soros refers to the actions of the authorities, but the Hungarian government does little for the LGBTQ community, on the contrary, it is hostile to us. As for democracy, it is not in the best state, not only in Hungary but also in other EU member states.” The finances of the business tycoon and philanthropist, who moved his structures from Budapest to Berlin in 2018 due to pressure from Prime Minister Viktor Orban, will be spent in other parts of the world. The organization gave no specific timeline for the transition to the new policy.