First came an unexpected series of mass emails to employees at the offices of the international NGO Open Society Foundations in Berlin. Then followed some initial clarifications from the management. Then they began to blow up in the press scenarios about what is going to happen to the employees associated with the Soros family.

The reason for the numerous foundations and individual organizations of the Open Society, the foundation of the Hungarian-born tycoon-investor George Soros.

According to reports in the German press, it is likely that all parties involved will limit its activity in Europe in the near future. In particular, it is about 93 organizations across Europe, which are active in various fields of civil society, human rights, research and education and which to this day support their activities with direct subsidies from the Soros family.

“Business Model Change”

The mega-investor George Soros started the establishment of charitable foundations with the aim of promoting a broad agenda for democracy and human rights. Starting from a commitment to civil society over 30 years ago, he gradually began to expand the “Soros network” across Europe. But mainly in countries of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, where it still has great influence.

The sudden layoffs, along with the possible suspension or reduction of funding to organizations under the Open Society umbrella, come alongside a decision by Alex Soros, son of the now 93-year-old George Soros, to make changes to the family empire. Alex Soros took over the reins of the “Soros dynasty” in December 2022 and it seems his goal is to change everything. First, the “working model” in the agencies it finances.

However, he emphasizes in his statement, reproduced by German media, that “he will continue to support the promotion of democracy, the fight against authoritarianism in Europe and civil society, which is of crucial importance for the achievement of the previous goals.”

“Withdrawal from Europe would be a mistake”

Meanwhile, according to Germany’s DLF radio, many organizations under the Soros family’s “umbrella” consider it a “strategic mistake” to remove funding for programs that have to do with “human rights, political participation or digital protection in the EU” and indeed in countries of critical importance, such as Ukraine, where war is raging, Poland and Hungary.

At the same time, Alex Soros seems to justify the withdrawal of funds from Europe, arguing that the EU itself now provides extensive funds and resources for human rights and pluralism. However, as the German newspaper Welt observes in a related publication, what makes the Open Society funds different from those of the EU is that they were previously channeled faster and with more flexibility to specific projects. In addition, support was provided in matters of strategic planning and legal assistance, as well as communication and networking advice. Also, according to employees and those who received funding from the Soros Foundation, Open Society was a “lobby” with significant influence in the EU.

However, the first layoffs are already in the works, and as everything shows, they will start in Berlin and Brussels. London is likely to follow. The Barcelona branch is expected to close soon, while specific plans for Eastern Europe and the Balkans have not yet been announced. However, already in 2018 it was known that the famous “Soros University” was leaving Budapest.