The European Parliament adopted a report on Thursday deeming that Viktor Orban’s Hungary was no longer a true democracy but a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy”. Gathered in Strasbourg, MEPs voted by 433 votes (123 votes against, 28 abstentions) for this report presented by French environmentalist MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, applauded in the hemicycle after the vote.
In its report, the European Parliament “deeply regrets that the absence of decisive action on the part of the Union has contributed to the erosion of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary, making the country a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy, as shown by the most relevant indicators”.
“Illiberal Democracy”
Hungary has been led since 2010 by the nationalist and ultra-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, 59, who claims the exercise of “illiberal democracy” and maintains cooperation links with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
“Things have changed dramatically” in Hungary in recent years, underlined Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield during a debate in the hemicycle on Wednesday, noting in particular that “the independence of justice is as unlikely in Hungary as it is is in Poland”.
“Restrictions on parliamentary rights”
“We know that it is Orbán’s own family that recovers European funds”, she continued, also citing “restrictions on parliamentary rights”, espionage of journalists, government control of universities, the “infamous law” against LGBT+ people “which resembles Putin’s laws”, but also the tightening of abortion conditions.
“For years, we have avoided defining what is happening in Hungary, precisely naming the regime of the Hungarian government (…) because in our texts it is very clear that the decisions taken in the Council are decisions which are taken by 27 democratic states,” said the elected official. In 2018, the European Parliament initiated a procedure against Hungary for “risk of a serious breach of European values” (Article 7 of the Treaty), which can in principle go so far as to deprive the country of its right to vote in the Advice.