Under glittering chandeliers in a neoclassical ballroom, guests took their seats. It was 10 a.m., and a large crowd had gathered at a private members’ club in Brussels for a conference marking 250 years of American independence. The event was organized by MCC Brussels, a think tank in the EU capital that is a favorite of Viktor Orbán.
Opening the one-day event, MCC director Frank Furedi said the 250th anniversary had “really escaped the attention of a European audience.” In his speech, he praised the founding fathers before launching a broad attack on Europe’s “incompetent political class.”
But beneath the glamour and bold talk, MCC Brussels’ future is uncertain. The think tank, which has co-sponsored events featuring Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman, and hosted far-right Alternative für Deutschland MEP Alexander Jungbluth, is facing a serious cash shortage. This follows Orbán’s political defeat in April. The man who beat him in a landslide, Péter Magyar, has said the state will no longer fund conservative gatherings and organizations, including “the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and other affiliated groups.”
Under Orbán, the MCC in Budapest—an educational institute closely tied to his Fidesz party—received a massive transfer of state assets. But the new prime minister has announced an investigation into that transfer, calling the state funding a crime.
Orbán was ousted as Hungary’s prime minister in May after 16 years in power. MCC Brussels launched in November 2022 as an independent offshoot of its parent institute in Budapest. In 2024, it reported €6.37 million (£5.45 million) in annual funding from MCC Budapest, making it one of the best-funded think tanks in the EU capital.
That wealth was on display in June at the Cercle Royal Gaulois, an elite club decorated with sculptures inspired by ancient Greece and portraits of Belgian royalty. There, guests discussed the future of Western civilization.
Furedi, once a member of a Marxist fringe party and now a leading ideologue for the new right, said MCC Brussels would need alternative funding starting in September. “No matter what, we’ll continue in some shape or form,” he said, though in “a worst-case scenario … we have to have much more of an online presence than an offline one.”
He dismissed Magyar’s claim that the transfer of funds to MCC Budapest was criminal, calling it “bullshit.” He added that MCC Brussels’ finances were “very transparent.” Magyar, he said, was “entitled” as elected prime minister to “get his hands on the funding that MCC has received from the public purse … What he is not entitled to do is to close down an institution that is doing good work.”
Furedi said MCC Brussels had “taken up themes that nobody else has touched,” contrasting its work with the “narrow conversation” in Brussels about the Green Deal and migration. He pointed to an event on Romany and Jewish music in Eastern Europe and upcoming work on “psychology in the EU narrative.”
But it’s not the think tank’s “musical journey through Transylvania” event that has earned it a controversial reputation. Critics accuse the group of defending Orbán’s corrupt rule in Hungary, despite widespread independent audits of graft and democratic backsliding. It has also been accused of a lack of transparency about its own funding.
In early 2024, MCC Brussels enthusiastically supported farmer protests in Brussels, capitalizing on genuine anger over low prices and EU regulation across Western Europe. The think tank denied organizing the protests, saying it had taken part in demonstrations and made videos “to help farmers communicate their concerns.” It also published reports claiming that EU policy was “destroying” farming. Its interest came at a time whenFarmers’ protests across Europe were gaining vocal support from far-right groups and conspiracy theorists.
[Image: Farmers with tractors protesting at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in January 2024. Photograph: Kay Nietfeld/AP]
MCC has also accused the European Commission of “funnelling billions into a shadowy network of NGOs and thinktanks” in a report that fueled a broader campaign from centre-right and far-right lawmakers against EU funding of civil society groups. MCC Brussels highlighted 10 federalist organisations and thinktanks that it said had received money under the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme. This programme has a €1.55bn budget for 2021-27, which has so far been distributed to more than 6,500 organisations.
Petros Fassoulas, the secretary general of the European Movement International (EMI), one of the organisations highlighted, believes the MCC’s report helped create “a climate, a mood, an impression” against NGOs. After years of stable funding, EMI’s application for a €650,000 annual EU grant was rejected in 2025, and funding from the European parliament for awareness-raising campaigns on European issues never came through. Fassoulas said he had no proof that a rightwing campaign to cut EU funding for NGOs led to that outcome, but described the timing as strange.
He added: “It is strange that at the very time the EU is under attack from Russian disinformation, US political campaigns and nationalist narratives, the commission cuts funding for an organisation that has traditionally supported the European project.”
Marieke Ehlers, an MEP with the far-right Dutch Party for Freedom, cited the MCC’s NGO report as an example of their “interesting” work. MCC Brussels played an important role, she added. “Do I use [their reports] to influence my political work? I don’t think so. Do I find it interesting to read? Yes. Do I think it’s important … to have thinktanks across the political spectrum? Yes.”
Not everyone thinks MCC Brussels is so harmless. Roland Freudenstein, a longtime Hungary watcher, said MCC Brussels was “basically set up to defend Orbán’s corruption” with a broader mission to be the intellectual basis for the pan-European alt-right. An MCC spokesperson said: “We condemn the practice of corruption by all politicians and public servants.”
[Image: Supporters of Péter Magyar’s Tisza party wait for his speech in Budapest during the election night in April. Photograph: Attila Husejnow/Sopa Images/Shutterstock]
Freudenstein worked at the Wilfried Martens Centre, the official thinktank of the European People’s party (EPP), when the mainstream centre-right group was divided over whether to expel Orbán and his Fidesz party. Orbán eventually withdrew his party from EPP in 2021 before it was kicked out over concerns about growing authoritarianism in Hungary.
The following year, MCC Brussels was created. “The MCC became really important to Fidesz as something to counterbalance the political isolation that Fidesz felt in the European parliament and by extension in European politics,” Freudenstein said.
The change in government in Hungary is not the only problem for MCC Brussels. It was suspended last month from the EU Transparency Register, a move that raises questions about its credibility. Being on the register, an official database of lobby groups, is required if an organisation wants to meet senior EU officials.
The suspension followed a complaint from the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) in February 2025 that accused MCC Brussels of failing to disclose its funding. MCC Brussels registered on the EU list in January 2024, but did not disclose its funding until August 2025. The MCC spokesperson said this was “well within the time frame afforded to all new registrants.”
Olivier Hoedeman, a co-founder of CEO, said the complaint had been started when MCC Brussels was “leading the attack on civilsociety,” adding that “their failure and refusal to disclose their own budget was just glaringly hypocritical.”
More than 16 months after the complaint was filed, Hoedeman said the CEO was still waiting for the commission’s response. MCC Brussels claimed its suspension was “politically motivated” and stemmed from a dispute over whether MCC Brussels should be included in the registration of its parent organization.
The European Commission repeatedly declined to explain why the suspension was imposed. “We do not comment on ongoing administrative proceedings,” a spokesperson said, adding that “the relevant organization” always had “the opportunity to share their views in writing before any decision on eligibility is made.”
For now, MCC continues its search for new funders. Reflecting on the well-attended event in the mirrored ballroom at the Cercle Royal Gaulois, Freudenstein said: “If it hadn’t been for Orbán’s crushing defeat in April, they would be thriving.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the crisis at the Századvég Foundation a think tank closely associated with Viktor Orbán and its connection to attacks on civil society
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What is a civil society and why is it important
Civil society is the space outside of government and businesslike charities human rights groups and independent think tanks They keep democracy healthy by holding governments accountable and giving citizens a voice
2 What does it mean to attack civil society
It usually means governments passing laws to restrict funding labeling groups as foreign agents or using tax audits to silence critics The goal is to weaken independent voices that might oppose the government
3 Who is Viktor Orbán
He is the Prime Minister of Hungary known for his nationalist conservative policies He often criticizes Western liberal democracy and has been accused of dismantling independent institutions in Hungary
4 What is Századvég
Its a conservative think tank in Hungary Its often called Viktor Orbáns favorite thinktank because it produces research that supports his governments policies and receives large amounts of state funding
5 Why is Századvég in crisis now
The think tank is facing internal turmoil Key staff have resigned and reports claim its being investigated for financial irregularities Critics say this shows the Orbán system is eating its own even loyal allies
IntermediateLevel Questions
6 How is Századvég linked to attacks on civil society
Századvég is a governmentfriendly think tank that has helped justify laws restricting foreignfunded NGOs in Hungary Now the same government tactics used against independent groups are being turned on Századvég itself
7 What specific problems is Századvég facing right now
Resignations Several highprofile directors and researchers have left citing a toxic work environment and pressure to produce propaganda
Funding freeze The European Union has frozen billions in funds to Hungary cutting off the state budget that Századvég relies on
Internal audit Whistleblowers claim the foundation misused EU funds leading to a government probe
8 Is this a real crisis or just a political drama
Its both Financ
