Hungary no longer a democracy, rights watchdog says
Freedom House cites crackdown on press, new bill allowing Prime Minister Orban to rule by decree, as examples of erosion of democratic norms in the Central European nation
Following the recent passage of a bill allowing Prime Minister Viktor Orban to rule by decree, Hungary can no longer be considered a democracy, US-based human rights organization Freedom House declared on Wednesday.
Hungary is one of several Central and Eastern European countries that have “dropped even the pretense that they play by the rules of democracy,” the group said in its annual Nations in Transit report, which also named Serbia and Montenegro as having “left the category of democracies entirely and become Transitional/Hybrid Regimes.”
Such countries “openly attack democratic institutions and are working to restrict individual freedoms.”
On March 30, Hungary’s parliament approved a bill giving Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government extraordinary powers during the coronavirus pandemic, and setting no end date for them.
The legislation has been criticized by opposition parties, international institutions and civic groups for failing to include an expiration date for the government’s ability to rule by decree.
It also includes measures against false information, which have raised concerns that they could be used by the government to muzzle independent media.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Orban “has used the pandemic to crack down further on press freedom” and “the pro-government media foundation, the Central European Press and Media Foundation (abbreviated as KESMA in Hungarian) dominates the media landscape.”
“Parliament, as the legislative body representing the people, practically will be in recess from now on. Law will be essentially made by the government,” the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a rights group, said.
“In the absence of the proper function of parliament, civic control of the government and its institutions — especially by the press, civic groups, and human rights watchdogs — becomes more valuable.”
Critics allege that under Orban, who was reelected to his fourth term two years ago, Hungary’s electoral system is disproportionate; media freedoms and judicial independence are dwindling; asylum-seekers and refugees are mistreated and there are limits placed on non-governmental organizations.
“After centralizing power, tilting the electoral playing field, taking over much of the media, and harassing critical civil society organizations since 2010, Orban moved during 2019 to consolidate control over new areas of public life, including education and the arts,” Freedom House said in its report.
“The 2020 adoption of an emergency law that allows the government to rule by decree indefinitely has further exposed the undemocratic character of Orban’s regime. Hungary’s decline has been the most precipitous ever tracked in Nations in Transit; it was one of the three democratic frontrunners as of 2005, but in 2020 it became the first country to descend by two regime categories and leave the group of democracies entirely.”
Freedom House cited a 2018 “Muzzle Law” that “introduced sanctions for lawmakers whose actions are deemed disruptive, and which moreover prohibits independent lawmakers from caucusing with party groups” as an example of Orban’s anti-democratic actions.
In 2018, European Union lawmakers voted on a motion that they hoped would lead to the imposition on sanctions against Budapest for eroding the rule of law.
However, Hungary has not “faced repercussions for damaging the rule of law at home, and [its] ruling Fidesz party has even remained a member of the mainstream European People’s Party, the largest grouping in the European Parliament,” Freedom House said.
Responding to Freedom House, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs tweeted that the group’s report was “a pity.”
Freedom House “was once known as the bipartisan human rights organization. With their Soros funding they’ve declined, becoming the fist of the party that is the Soros network. Anyone who doesn’t conform to their liberal view, gets downgraded,” he wrote.
Such a pity. @freedomhouse was once known as the bipartisan human rights organization. With their Soros funding they’ve declined, becoming the fist of the party that is the Soros network. Anyone who doesn’t conform to their liberal view, gets downgraded. https://t.co/yNEqotMPgT
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) May 6, 2020
Orban has long held up Soros as an enemy, calling a “public enemy” for allegedly backing uncontrolled mass immigration. Jewish groups in the country condemned Orban’s anti-Soros campaign as anti-Semitic but, despite widespread condemnations, it continued and in 2018 the Soros-founded Central European University was forced to relocate from Budapest.
Last month, Soros donated $1.1 million to help Budapest prepare for the coronavirus pandemic, earning him praise from the Hungarian capital’s mayor.
