Fidesz government

Both leaders sent pointed signals. Orban gave Francis a copy of a 1243 letter from Hungary's King Bela IV, asking Pope Innocent IV for help repelling Mongol invaders - a possible dig at the pope's welcoming attitude to migrants.

President of Hungary Janos Ader delivers his speech during a high-level debate of the UN General Assembly on climate change and sustainable development in the organisation's headquarters in New York, USA, 28 March 2019. EPA-EFE/NOEMI BRUZAK

Direkt36 journalists Szabolcs Panyi and Andras Szabo. Photo: courtesy of Andras Pethő

Initially, the law was seen as a reaction to that case.

As reported by OKO.press, the new reporting stipulations could potentially allow the Polish government to compile lists of critical NGOs funded by actors outside Poland and depict them as foreign agents, albeit indirectly, for example by using state media channels controlled by the nationalist-populist Law and Justice (PiS) party. Such practice is not unprecedented in Poland.

To escape the police, the 59-year-old politician had apparently jumped out of a window and tried to flee along the gutter, though was spotted by a passer-by and subsequently apprehended by the police. Ecstasy pills were found in his rucksack, but he declared to have no knowledge of them.

"I am not here to excuse my grandfather, nor would I like to ponder how someone becomes a murderer," Pokorni said at a solemn ceremony in mid-January at the site of a former Jewish hospital in Budapest.