Re-elected Orban poses worrying ‘contagion effect’ for EU
FOR eight years, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been chipping away at European values and weakening the EU’s resolve against authoritarian, far-right policies of member states.
For his fourth term, there is little more damage he can do to the democratic systems in his own country, but he most certainly poses a threat to the rest of the EU.
His record so far has been to take Hungary on a fast track to the past. He and his ruling Fidesz party have stifled dissent and any semblance of free expression by closing down any media outlet that dares criticise him.
“The systematic crackdown on pluralism in the media” was one of most important elements of his control, says Daniel Kelemen, political science professor at Rutgers University in the US.
Mr Orban is widely known throughout the EU for his xenophobic attacks on Syrian refugees whom he called “Muslim invaders” and his refusal to take any in as per the quota system agreed at EU level.
However, his complete political takeover of the judiciary in Hungary, and total control over every part of civic society – for example, every school principal has to be Fidesz-sanctioned – should have been a wake-up call for Europe years ago.
Prof Kelemen warns of a worrying “contagion effect”, citing the EU’s failure to stand up to Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, Mr Orban and the farright PiS party in Poland.
Crucially, Mr Orban sits with the all-powerful EPP grouping in the European Parliament, which also includes Fine Gael, Angela Merkel and the CDU, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Yet not once have they meaningfully committed to putting a stop to Mr Orban’s wilful disdain for European values.
“They should kick him out of the EPP and denounce his election, but the EPP are cowards,” said Prof Kelemen.
It’s time to cut his EU funding, otherwise Hungary and Brexit won’t be the only threats to the EU’s future.