The cozy relationship between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump should raise red flags for those in the United States interested in preserving and building an inclusive and healthy American democracy. President Trump has made no secret of his admiration for the authoritarian strongman who has ruled Hungary since 2010. President Trump mentioned Orbán when he visited Mar-a-Lago on March 8. “As a boss”” Those are horrifying words.
The American people should be concerned when a presidential candidate flatters another leader’s anti-democratic governance.The Hungarian leader whom Trump respects publicly weakened his country’s democratic system, including courts, media and civil society. He changes the Hungarian constitution on a whim.
Hungary’s prime minister will stop at nothing to silence critical voices, including activists and independent media. Prime Minister Orbán spends large sums of tax money on: National billboard and media campaign Contains fear-mongering disinformation about immigrants, LGBT people, and our European allies.
Imagine a United States where the opposition party—whatever its party or ideology—gets only what it can get. 5 minutes on public service television Every four years, they discuss their political outlook and hopes for the future of the country. That is today’s Hungary.
During his 14 years in power, Orbán systematically centralized power, hollowed out democratic guarantees and weakened the rule of law.
Prime Minister Orbán declared several things. emergency, which allowed him to bypass parliament and rule by statute. Parliament does not have democratic functions at this time. It is just a rubber stamp, with the presidency acting as Orbán’s personal approval pen. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, he can pass any law without prior public consultation. In fact, President Orban has amended the constitution 13 times.
For many years, Mr. Orbán controlled much of the country’s media, use it to shower people with misleading information. Demonize opponents. denigrate minorities; including immigrants and LGBT people and Fill in the imaginary enemy. By keeping people in the dark and distorting reality, media crackdown It is a direct threat to a functioning democracy. And it marked a significant change in Hungary’s recent 2022 elections, according to international election observers. It was free, but it wasn’t fair.
Power is not complete without money. Corruption is rampant; The EU got fed up and froze the funds. to Hungary as it emerged that EU funds were misused to award contracts to Mr Orbán’s allies.Some of them are Funds were released in Decembera significant amount remains frozen.
The Hungarian government describes itself as family-friendly and focused on child protection.But it consists of confuse LGBT people with pedophiles Prohibition of items containing potentially Schools are seen as promoting homosexuality and gender. on the other hand, The country’s president in February He was forced to resign following a scandal surrounding a pardon for a person involved in covering up child sexual abuse. The real problems facing Hungarian children, Underfunded education system and medical system in a state of confusionnot addressed.
The institutions of the European Union are initiated numerous legal proceedings and activated mechanisms against the Hungarian government; It could ultimately lead to Hungary being stripped of its voting rights in the EU. The Hungarian government’s alignment with Russia has put it on the verge of conflict with other EU countries over its position on Ukraine. Block EU support to Ukraine and Blocked Sweden’s application to join NATO.
Democracy is not a given. It requires constant attention and people need to fight for it. If society lets down its guard, no country can avoid falling into authoritarianism. Hungary is a cautionary tale about how the actions of one leader led to the deterioration of democracy, severely restricted people’s rights and freedoms, and a corrupt government led by an autocratic leader. .
When it comes to democracy, Viktor Orban is no hero. What happened in Hungary should serve as a wake-up call for the United States, and is not something anyone who values democratic values wants to emulate.
Lydia Gall is a senior Europe and Central Asia fellow at Human Rights Watch.
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