Can the EU Rescue Democracy in Hungary?

Alexandra Wiktorek is an Associate Scholar of FPRI’s Project on Democratic Transitions and a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Maia Otarashvili is a Research Associate and Project Coordinator for FPRI’s Project on Democratic Transitions. She holds an M.A. in Globalization, Development and Transition from the University of Westminster in London, with emphasis on post-authoritarian transitions.

The European Union always takes steps to ensure that a prospective member state meets certain criteria[1] regarding democratic practices. But what happens when a state that meets those criteria is accepted into the EU, only to regress later on? That is the question that the EU faces with Hungary, once a democratic front-runner among the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, but now a country that has seen a palpable erosion of democracy. The Hungarian case raises questions about the EU’s current governance mechanisms, and whether it can handle further expansion effectively. How should the EU and the wider international community use their leverage to promote democratic practices in post-communist EU states? What role should the United States play?

Europe is suffering from internal divisions, economic weakness, and a loss of legitimacy, even as it officially welcomed another new Central and Eastern European (CEE) state—Croatia—this July 1. In the wake of severe austerity programs, between 2010 and 2012 more than half of the governments in the EU’s 28 member states fell or were voted out of office. This instability may have serious consequences for the CEE states, where democracy and the rule of law are newer arrivals. Before these states gained European membership, conditionality pressure was a strong incentive for reform. However, the EU has less leverage over fully-fledged member states. According to scholars Jacques Rupnik and Jan Zielonka, while it was once believed that EU pressure would “make the lands of East-Central Europe safe for democracy,” we are now witnessing a pattern of “erosion of the EU as a democratizing constraint on its old and new members” alike.[2]

Hungary, in particular, is proving to be a test of the EU’s ability to prevent the erosion of democracy, and Europe’s performance so far raises the question of whether further European expansion at this stage is wise. Since his election in April 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has overseen a swift and aggressive weakening of democratic freedoms in his country. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, Orbán’s Fidesz party pushed through a new constitution, the Fundamental Law (in effect since January 2012). The Fundamental Law solidifies the power of the ruling party on several key fronts. It weakens the Constitutional Court, harms the free press, makes political dissent in Hungary more difficult, and promotes nationalist values that encourage far-right elements at the expense of minorities. Orbán’s aggressive extension of his political power has coincided with erratic and shortsighted economic policies designed to maintain public support during the economic crisis. These policies have led the economy into its second recession in four years. International organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, global media organizations, and the human rights watchdog Council of Europe which works closely with the EU, have criticized Hungary’s political direction—so far, to little avail.

In March 2011, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission criticized the newly written constitution because its drafting had excluded the political opposition. Further amendments weakened opportunities for political competition and loosened checks on executive power. The Commission has reiterated those concerns in a June 2013 report.

In April 2013, the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly recommended that Hungary be subject to a monitoring procedure, usually begun when a country first joins the Council of Europe. Officially monitoring Hungary would have put this country in the company of Russia and Turkey, which are often criticized for failing to meet democratic standards. It would have been the first EU member state to have its democracy scrutinized in this fashion. On June 25^th the Parliamentary Assembly voted not to subject Hungary to the monitoring procedure, but its report echoed many of the concerns that the Venice Commission had expressed. The Assembly set out specific actions that Hungarian authorities should take in order to restore the system of checks and balances in Hungary. On July 3, the European Parliament adopted a resolution written by Green MEP Rui Tavares, stating that according to Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, Hungary’s actions are incompatible with EU values.[3]

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