The contempt shown by Hungary’s prime minister for EU norms requires a response
In recent years, as Viktor Orbán has consolidated his hold over Hungary’s body politic, he has acquired a cult following on America’s Republican right. That status was confirmed last week when US conservatives staged a special conference in Budapest, the centrepiece of which was an address by the newly re-elected prime minister. Speaking to the conference theme of “God, homeland, family”, the self-styled standard bearer for “illiberal democracy” did not hold back. Delegates were told that “ideologically trained bureaucrats” in Washington and Brussels – in cahoots with progressive liberals and “neo-Marxists” – were seeking to undermine traditional western values. Mr Orbán then outlined the strategy taken in Hungary to eradicate this threat. “The first point in the Hungarian formula,” he said, “is to play by our own rules.”
In that spirit, Mr Orbán’s Hungary has flouted the democratic norms of European Union membership for years. On issues relating to corruption, the independence of the media, asylum and LGBTQ+ rights, Budapest has flatly ignored EU objections to its actions. Mr Orbán has made domestic political capital from waging a culture war against Brussels, even as Hungary accessed billions of pounds worth of EU regional aid. As he trolls the EU ever more brazenly from within and gives masterclasses to America’s “alt-right”, what can Brussels do about it?
