How would you assess the current political developments in Hungary?
Gerald Häfner: They’re dramatic. I think we have to take very seriously what is going on there. We have a government in Hungary which, although operating within a democratic framework, actually conceives of itself as the ruling oligarchy in a one-party system. The entire state and all its institutions and processes are thus to be adjusted according to the will of this one party, and in part forcibly consolidated.
Right from the start, numerous institutional constraints on power were dismantled. Following a ruling which the government did not like, the jurisdiction of Hungary’s Constitutional Court was curtailed. Several hundred judges appointed under previous social democratic governments are presently being dismissed en masse through a drastic reduction in the mandatory retirement age, so that they can be replaced by conservative candidates. At the same time, the retirement age has been significantly raised for all other professions; if at a later date this is applied to judges as well, the government will be able to perpetuate the new conservative supremacy in jurisprudence. A judicial authority was created in which one person from the inner circle and – of course – the party of the prime minister, Fidesz, is to decide on appointments of judges and state prosecutors as well as on the allocation of cases in the judiciary.
Problematic developments can be seen not only in democratic institutions, however, but in the economic sphere as well – for example in agriculture. Here, a form of plutocracy can now be discerned, where in many cases only those close to the governing party have a chance to win tenders or to purchase large estates. By contrast, those associated with the opposition must count on being disadvantaged economically as well as socially.
Freedom of the press has been restricted as well, and the cultural sphere has been attacked on a massive scale: In the public media alone, some 900 journalists have been laid off. Theatre directors and intendants have been dismissed and replaced by reliably conservative hardliners, etc. This has elements of a cultural-chauvinist consolidation. Democracy is being gutted and we are just looking on, without really understanding or analysing what is happening there. If we were to analyse it, we would recognise a dual danger – primarily for Hungary, but in the long run a danger for us all.
Where are the actual dangers through which democratic principles are being violated in Hungary?
GH: What one can observe in Hungary is that democracy must be defended, protected and maintained on a daily basis in many areas of society. Democracy is a living system of checks and balances, which must be continually adjusted – a system in which ultimately an accommodation or a political majority is sought through discourse and the influence of all participants on decisions. In Hungary, what is happening instead is that all these processes are either being practised only formally or circumvented entirely, and one party is plundering the state and its institutions. If developments continue in this direction, a state of affairs can arise from which there is no road back – or at least no easy and democratic road back. Through a drastic change in the election law, for example, the current one-party majority in Hungary is attempting to secure its rule even beyond the next elections, and is doing so to such an extent that the opposition parties have no chance at all.
Overall, we are experiencing a massively ideological form of politics represented by Orbán in the style of a national uprising. In Orbán’s speeches, Hungary is depicted as the perpetual victim of an evil world bent on subjugating Hungary, and against which everyone must now close ranks behind the nation and rise up, under the leadership of this party and Viktor Orbán. This has clear references to totalitarian regimes.
Is Hungary an exception or are there indications of a trend in Europe? Where are the dangers here for European democracy?
GH: In the developments in Hungary, one clearly sees a preview of what could threaten other countries in Europe if we’re not careful, and if the strains increase. One cause of these developments, among many others, is the accelerating economic crisis and the disintegration of society. I can imagine that in many countries, in southern Europe for example, other simplified patterns of interpretation could gain the upper hand, and similar leadership figures could occupy influential positions, especially if the citizenry cease to interpret the crises currently unfolding there as consequences of their own flawed societal, political and economic decisions, and instead – as is the case in Hungary – if they begin to consider themselves victims of sinister forces in their own country or abroad. Against this background, Hungary is certainly a laboratory. Hungary was a laboratory for freedom under communism, and now it’s a laboratory for the curtailment of democracy and totalitarian pretensions. One must take this seriously for Hungary’s sake – but also because therein lies a danger that could threaten us all.
If we look at developments such as those in Italy under Berlusconi or the curtailment of press freedoms in Romania under the last government, then we see that governments are increasingly tempted to restrict democratic discourse and to plunder the institutions of society, including the media. If we look at Rupert Murdoch’s role in Britain or a number of other publishing houses and newspaper tsars in Europe, then it becomes clear that the era of the greatest media freedom and plurality if anything is behind us. Overall, we are seeing central democratic institutions or those vitally important to democracy becoming increasingly exposed in Europe. This means that Hungary is just the tip of the iceberg which is visibly jutting out above the surface; below the waterline, however, we see similar tendencies in every European society.
How should Europe react to these developments? And by Europe I mean the European Union as such, but also Europe’s societies and governments.
GH: Above all, Hungary must do something. I’m pleased that, despite all the critical developments that we’ve been discussing, Hungary is one of the countries in Central Europe where the Green Movement is visible and growing, and that in Hungary a Green Party has managed to get into parliament. That’s reason for hope.
The EU and its institutions can do a lot. Europe is not just an amalgamation, a summation of various countries; we have agreed on common values including freedom of the press, freedom of speech and democracy – and these are under threat in Hungary. For this reason, I am very pleased that the European Commission has launched an infringement proceeding against Hungary, and that at least two matters have been referred to the European Court of Justice.
I myself would like to have seen the EU examine more issues than just the three which it has made the basis of the proceeding. I know the Commission’s options are limited, but we should make use of the options we have. I also believe that high time to spell things out in no uncertain terms – and this goes above all for Europe’s conservative leaders, who at the moment are in the majority and are in the same political family as Viktor Orbán. I wish – similarly to Ukraine in respect of Yulia Tymoshenko – that presidents and other members of government would question or refuse travel, and find clearer language vis-à-vis this country than heretofore. Europe must make it clear that we do not approve of these developments, and that we will use every option we have (through diplomacy, at international conferences, etc.) to advise Hungary and the Hungarian leadership of these concerns and to demand a correction at least in central areas where fundamental and human rights are at stake. This is not presently happening to the extent necessary. Here in the European Parliament, for example, the European People’s Party (EPP) is notorious for backing the Hungarian government. Every criticism rolls right off this large bloc. Unfortunately, the social democratic group behaved the same way when Orbán’s predecessor, Ferenc Gyurcsány, faced similar criticism. I don’t understand it; I didn’t with Berlusconi, and I don’t now with Orbán. If we want to defend democracy, it is particularly those in the same political family as Orbán who must find clear words.
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Gerald Häfner is Member of the Greens / EFA group in the European Parliament.
Interview conducted by Christine Pütz, Head of the EU Department, Heinrich Böll Foundation.
English translation: Petra and Evan Mellander