EU can do little to control tide of xenophobia
TEUROPE EDITOR he crushing victory of Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party in this weekend’s parliamentary elections confronts the European Union – yet again – with its own impotence when it comes to dealing with the burgeoning “illiberal democracy” on its eastern flank.
Even by the standards of Mr Orbán, this was a nasty campaign which was condemned as “xenophobic” by official OSCE election monitors who noted the entrenched pro-government “media bias”. The Hungarian political playing-field is far from level.
The campaign was frequently extreme. Mr Orbán talked about refugees as “Muslim invaders” and revived the meme of the wandering Jew, in the shape of an enemy that was “not open, but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; not national but international”. That is the kind of language that should trouble Europe, and yet the grudging acknowledgement of Mr Orbán’s victory in Brussels, Berlin, London and Paris provides a tacit admission that there is a limit to what can be done. There are some options.
The Western powers Mr Orbán so derides could take note of the OSCE findings and condemn Fidesz’s creeping capture of Hungarian civil society and the state apparatus which now openly peddles Mr Orbán’s propaganda. Then there is talk of launching “Article 7” rule of law proceedings against Hungary, but Fidesz’s membership of the conservative EPP parliamentary group and the promise of a Polish veto against any sanctions, is sufficient to protect him. Then there is money – the threat to the link EU development funds that fuel Mr Orbán’s political machine if he does not adhere to democratic norms. But here too, a tough approach is blocked by competing strategic interests. The result is a political inertia that bodes ill for Emmanuel Macron’s grand plans to revive Europe after Brexit.
And while the West stands still, Mr Orbán has four more years to enhance his already considerable powers.