Hungary eyes power to expel dual citizens

BUDAPEST: Hungary´s government wants to change the constitution so it can strip dual nationals temporarily of their citizenship in a move aimed at financiers supporting NGOs and independent media from abroad.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged to oust “liberal networks” from the country by Easter with a crackdown on NGOs that receive financial support from the United States.

“Foreign powers and speculators have intervened in Hungarian internal affairs... through bogus NGOs and bought politicians and so-called independent media,” Mate Kocsis, the head of Orban´s ruling Fidesz party in parliament, wrote on Facebook.

Some in the media saw the change as targeting the billionaire US-based philanthropist George Soros, a prominent supporter of liberal causes and civil society in his homeland. The 94-year-old dual national is the bete noire of Hungary´s nationalist, Moscow-friendly leader.

Under the amendment, “the citizenship of a Hungarian citizen who is also a citizen of another state... may be suspended for a limited period of time”.

Those who “pose a threat to public order, public security or national security” would be targeted, Fidesz said in a Facebook post late on Tuesday.

“Anyone whose citizenship is suspended may be expelled from the territory of Hungary,” it added.

The provision -- which exempts citizens of other EU states -- would come into effect on April 15 if it is voted through parliament.