Former President Barack Obama is “increasingly concerned about the rising wave of authoritarianism sweeping the globe.” He thus decided to post a video with three figures from Poland and Hungary “on the leading edge of confronting autocracy.” These “defenders of democracy” are all members of the Obama Foundation Scholars’ alumni network, he tells viewers.
So, who exactly were these “leaders”? Stefánia Kapronczay, former strategic director of the Society for Civil Liberties (TASZ or HCLU), Sándor Léderer, co-founder of K-Monitor, and Zuzana Rudzinska-Bluszcz, former Polish deputy minister of justice.
HIrado gave a rundown on some highlights, including that Stefánia Kapronczay’s former workplace, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), and K-Monitor, founded by Sándor Léderer, are considered the leading organizations of the Soros network in Hungary.
K-Monitor has also been funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which serves as the financial foundation for American intelligence services. Magyar Nemzet wrote in an article this past summer that 90 percent of K-Monitor’s revenues came from foreign sources in 2024, notes Hirado, with some HUF 17.7 million ($52,000) coming from NED.
NED, known to work hand in hand with the CIA, was at the center of the foreign campaign financing scandal of Hungary’s united opposition ahead of the 2022 election.
Other foreign money for K-Monitor came from the Dutch Human Rights Fund (HUF 6.4 million), notably run by the Dutch state, and forints from the EU’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program, or CERV (HUF 11.7 million).
Stefánia Kapronczay, who has just resigned from HCLU, was an Obama Scholar at Columbia University. She posted on LinkedIn just two days ago that her stint at Columbia has now also come to an end, and she’ll be posting “soon” about what she she is doing next. I think it’s fair to bet this will be funded by Obama and have something to do with “defeating authoritarianism” in Hungary.
As to Rudzinska-Bluszcz, who resigned this past August, she worked under Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, who, together with PM Donald Tusk, sought to purge some 3,500 judges appointed under the previous Conservative (PiS) government.
As Remix News reported at the time, Ordo Iuris wrote that Poland’s legal profession sent a letter to the government stating in no uncertain terms that their act was unconstitutional.
“The assumptions behind this act, which was presented on Sept. 6, 2024, by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar, constitute an unacceptable attack by the executive branch on the independence of the judiciary as well as the independence of judges in the Republic of Poland.”
Upon her resignation, Rudzinska-Bluszcz lauded both Bodnar and their actions taken: “I am extremely grateful to Adam Bodnar for his trust, for working together, and above all, for the values that were the basis of every action taken by the ministry.”
Hungary has long been the target of foreign campaigns, many US-based, to try to oust PM Viktor Orbán and facilitate a more liberal, leftist-friendly regime. Two prominent names include the “independent” Action for Democracy, nevertheless chock full of leading Democrat figures or sympathizers from America (including a former ambassador to Budapest under Obama), and the very much D.C.-funded USAID.
Trump has certainly put a thorn in the side of the Obama team’s “democracy agenda,” especially as he seeks to cut spending and turn the focus back on America. You can read all about USAID’s many activities, funded by U.S. taxpayers, here.
