The list is as long as your arm: lack of independence of the judiciary, endemic corruption, concentration of the media, government control over universities, attack on the rights of LGBT communities, weakening of NGOs… If Hungary were today a candidate to enter the European Union, the door would simply be slammed in his face.
This progressive disintegration of democracy began in 2010, when Fidesz, the national-conservative party of Viktor Orbán, came to power.
An unquestionable statement made by @Europarl_EN today:
The #Hungary can no longer be considered a democratic state.
This is the conclusion of the interim report on the#StateofLaw in , adopted by a large majority ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/NL5VMqRbHo
— Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (@GDelbosCorfield) September 15, 2022
Of course, this is not the first time that the European Union has denounced Hungary’s authoritarian drift. But the report by Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, Green MEP, puts her foot in the dish. This is “Brussels’ inaction” which made matters worse. This country is no longer a democracy, but, according to his somewhat convoluted formula: “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracyThis text was overwhelmingly adopted (433 votes for, 123 votes against, 28 abstentions) and applauded by the deputies after the vote.
A vote that remains above all symbolic. Above all, it allows MEPs to put a lot of pressure on the Commission, which is the only one able to take sanctions against a Member State.
Several procedures have already been initiated against Hungary, for the moment without concrete translation. The famous Article 7 which provides for sanctions for serious violations of the rule of law was triggered in 2017, it has not yet been decided – and it probably never will be.
On April 27 this year, the Commission also launched the so-called “conditionality mechanism”: until Hungary comes up with credible laws to fight corruption, the funds owed to it will not be disbursed.
Hungary is also to date the only European country whose post-Covid recovery plan is still suspended. Seven billion euros. A few months ago Viktor Otrban assured that he did not need this money, but the country’s economic situation has deteriorated markedly. On this issue, the two parties have until the end of the year to find common ground. MEPs would like everything to go much faster.
Budapest is not undertaking the reforms that are being asked of it, on the contrary. As soon as it can, Hungary uses its blocking power. For example, she threatened to veto the embargo on Russian oil. This allowed him to benefit from an exemption regime and to keep his ties with Moscow. Same thing for the tax on multinationals. And on the migration file after 2015, remember, with her allies from the Visegrad group she had refused the idea of quotas for the relocation of asylum seekers.
The standoff with Brussels therefore goes far beyond questions of respect for the rule of law. And it is not this parliamentary report that will grease the wheels. From Thursday, September 15 Budapest, through the voice of its Minister of Foreign Affairs, qualified the text “insult to Hungarians“.