how did the country become the “black sheep” of the European Union?

Twenty years after its accession, Hungary, led by the nationalist Viktor Orban, is accused of authoritarian excesses.

Hungary is the subject of numerous criticisms for its laws deemed to be repressive. The sovereignty law is the latest, passed last December: it aims to fight against foreign interference. However, it has greatly worried NGOs, such as Helsinki, the oldest human rights organization in the country.

Andras Kadar, the co-president of Helsinki, is alarmed: this law creates a state office, without an address, without a telephone, with almost unlimited powers. “The office is supposed to have very broad access to data, it can request any type of information from people, from organizations… including sensitive information subject to confidentiality rules, he explains. I mean, it’s brand new, but the sovereignty office just contacted the Hungarian Bar Association with a letter asking them to cooperate.”

What does cooperation mean? This is the problem, breathes Andras Kadar, the vagueness is maintained while this office can, after investigation, propose sanctions, up to prison sentences. “What happened in Hungary was a work of undermining the counter-powers, between the problems of independence of the constitutional court, the defender of rights, the courts… it prevents everyone from having the possibility of benefiting from protection when human rights are violated”laments Andras Kadar.

“For Fidesz, what matters most is national sovereignty.”

Andras Laslzo, member of Fidesz

at franceinfo

But Fidesz, the government party of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, persists and signs. Andras Laslzo is a member of the ruling majority and even if he is a candidate for the European Parliament, for him the danger is foreigners. “There was interference in our 2022 elections, the parliamentary elections when the left parties presented themselves on a list and they received 10 million dollars from the United States”assures Andras Laslzo.

The amount has not been confirmed but this foreign financing precipitated the vote on the sovereignty law. The European Parliament was moved by this and launched a unique procedure at the beginning of the year before the Council of Justice of the European Union. He contests the unfreezing of 10 billion in European funds, judging that human rights are still not sufficiently respected.

Hungary attacks any form of protest. In 2023, teachers have been put under pressure. They have lost their civil servant status and are now subject to an annual rating which can have an impact on their remuneration. The opposition is denigrated and has little presence in the public media. The government got its hands on it in 2010. Balazs Nagy Navarro remembers it very well. The former head of public television’s international service describes a system of disinformation. “The manipulation of information exists in France, it exists everywhere, on one side or the other… But here we have reached such a level of manipulation in public service televisionhe emphasizes. This kind of direct falsification of information exists in very few other countries except in dictatorships.” The Orban government created a holding company which now brings together public broadcasting. “The new institution serving as public media, in this case MTVA, is placed under the authority of the media council, explains Balazs Nagy Navarro, However, the president of the media council is elected by the government and the parliamentary majority and he appoints the management of public broadcasting.”

This control of the media allows massive smear campaigns. This is the last weapon of the Hungarian system: attacking reputation and pushing for self-censorship. In a discreet building away from the center of Budapest, are the premises of Hatter Society, an LGBT association. Tamas Dombos, lawyer, talks about his daily life: “Every morning you wake up, you start reading the news. There’s always a new politician saying homophobic or transphobic things, that you’re a pedophile, that you want to adopt a child just to sexually assault them. ..”

In Hungary there are no visible rainbow flags, a law was passed in 2021 to ban the promotion of homosexuality. Last year, the director of the national museum in Budapest paid the price after an exhibition by World Press Photo, photos of journalists, some of which showed an LGBT community in the Philippines. “It became a political problem, he said it was a great exhibition that had a place at the museum and he was fired… continues Tamas Dombos. So you are risking your career if you do not support this legislation, whether you are a teacher or even the director of the national museum.”

According to a recent poll, half of Hungarians are in favor of same-sex marriage. 60% of them are in favor of adoption by same-sex couples, a proportion which increases from year to year. This is the paradox in a country that otherwise highlights traditional family values.