Hungary enacts the Stop Soros package
In June 2018 Parliament criminalised some assistance to asylum seekers and related NGO work, marketed as Stop Soros. In the causal graph this event strengthens Migration-policy restrictiveness and border control, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
Read the full account
In June 2018 Parliament criminalised some assistance to asylum seekers and related NGO work, marketed as Stop Soros. UNHCR and the Commission challenged the package. It is a completed criminal-law act.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Viktor Orbán
PersonDirect responsibility
responsibility level 0.65 · verified
The interior ministry drafted. His majority enacted. Courts and Luxembourg later constrained parts of it.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactHungary enacts the Stop Soros package
- strengthensDriverMigration-policy restrictiveness and border control
- weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 20 June 2018 · verified
Criminalising assistance raises the cost of asylum access and of civic help at the border.
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.33 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.6)
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.22 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.4)
Moving normal line
- FactHungary enacts the Stop Soros package
- strengthensDriverIlliberal state capture in Hungary
- weakensIndicators (6)Access to justice index
impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 20 June 2018 · verified
Stop Soros criminalises assistance around asylum and is a civic-space statute of the same capture machine.
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.23 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.35 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
All indicators on this path (6)
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.57 index score (0-1) · 0.23 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.5 index score (0-1) to 0.57 index score (0-1).
Above normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Weakens · Relationship strength 0.17 (weight 0.55 × strength 0.3)
Above normal = better
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Human Rights Watch on Hungary’s 2018 asylum packageHuman Rights Watch · High credibility · verified
- 2.CJEU material on the Stop Soros packageEUR-Lex · High credibility · verified
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorViktor Orbán
- contributed toFactHungary enacts the Stop Soros package
- strengthensDrivers (2)Migration-policy restrictiveness and border control
- weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). Hungary enacts the Stop Soros package. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/hu-stop-soros-2018
https://factrail.ai/facts/hu-stop-soros-2018
Accessed 15 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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