From the 2026 budget audit
84 million Ft for international development — a category that charitable and voluntary channels already fund.
A small development co-operation line with no contractual reliance interest, in a category where voluntary financing works at scale.
Roughly 21 Ft per taxpayer per year — 84 million Ft in a category that the voluntary sector funds directly and in proportion to what donors actually choose to give.
What you see — and what you don't
The seen: the development co-operation recipients. The unseen: every taxpayer who would not have chosen these particular recipients — and the voluntary donor whose own charitable choice is crowded out by a state transfer that pre-empts it.
Objection
"84 million Ft is immaterial — cutting it saves nothing and looks petty."
Answer
The amount is small. The principle is the same as the larger lines. Development assistance is a paradigm case for voluntary financing: the donor chooses the recipient, the cause, and the amount. State-administered development aid replaces that choice with an officeholder's allocation. The small amount makes the principle cleaner, not less applicable.
Share if you think development giving should be a choice, not a budget line.
The analyst's verdict
International Development Co-operation
Rationale
A small line funding international development co-operation activity. Development assistance, like humanitarian giving, is a category for which voluntary financing channels exist and operate at scale. The amount is immaterial and the line carries no reliance interest; it can be closed in a single cycle. The principle is the same one that applies to the larger Hungary Helps line — the size is not the criterion.
Transition mechanism
Eliminate in the 2026 cycle.
Affected groups
Development-co-operation recipients; negligible scale.
Free Society Institute
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