Hungary: An authoritarian runs into resistance
The European Parliament is attempting to censure Hungary's Prime Minister for changes to the constitution that have led to increased governmental control over the country's democratic institutions.
We Hungarians won’t let our country be a colony of anyone, “not even of the EU,” said Zoltan Biro in the Budapest Magyar Hirlap. That’s why so many of us backed Prime Minister Viktor Orban last week when he traveled to Strasbourg, France, to defend Hungary’s honor before the European Parliament. The European Union is seeking to censure him for having made constitutional changes that give the government more control over the courts, the media, and the central bank. But Orban faced down the “vituperative, intellectually dissolute, and sick masters of injustice” with calm dignity, and at least 100,000 citizens reflected the same virtue when they marched through Budapest in support of him. “The Hungarians have shown the world that they defend their leader when he defends the Hungarian nation.”
Where have we heard that tone before? asked Joëlle Stolz in the Paris Le Monde. The Hungarians are a problem. Having been granted the right by the Hapsburgs in the 19th century to lord it over the Croats, Slovaks, and Romanians, they have never really accepted the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, which trimmed their borders to roughly their current dimensions. Hungary still takes “refuge in its assumed role as victim,” assigning blame for its fate to “the Ottomans, the Hapsburgs, the Jews, the liberals, the Germans, the Russians, the Gypsies, and now the European Commission and the Strasbourg parliament.” Orban has only made matters worse since his right-wing Fidesz party won its “overwhelming electoral victory” in April 2010, said Martin M. Simecka in the Prague Respekt. He’s “exerted total control over the democratic institutions” of his country, nationalized private pension funds, levied big taxes on foreign companies, and grabbed hold of the central bank—and in the process made the Hungarian forint the worst-performing currency in the world.
Last week’s march supporting Orban doesn’t tell the whole story, said Kathrin Haimerl in the Munich Süddeutsche Zeitung. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of mainly middle-class protesters have braved freezing temperatures in Budapest to demonstrate against the “Viktator,” and the left-wing opposition has united to stage hunger strikes and street petitions. A recent poll showed that 84 percent of Hungarians think the country is on the wrong track. With his bulletproof majority coalition, Orban may think he can ignore his domestic critics, said Ralf Leonhard in the Berlin Die Tageszeitung. But he can’t ignore foreign lenders. The ratings agencies have downgraded Hungarian government debt to junk status, and the economy will collapse without a massive IMF loan, which won’t be granted unless Orban agrees to reinstate the central bank’s independence. Orban appears willing to back off just enough to secure that financial lifeline. But he is convinced that conservative parties elsewhere in Europe will help him head off a broader assault on his authoritarian agenda in Hungary. The “self-satisfied smile” that played over his face as he spoke in Strasbourg last week suggests that Orban sees himself, for now, “as the victor.” But this battle is still far from over.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
What's next for US interest rates?
The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published