In Hungary, Europe’s Values are being challenged

In Hungary, the government is changing the country’s constitution as well as making other sweeping reforms that have caused great concern in the European Parliament. Despite his repeated denials, and offers of compromise, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appears intent on muddying the divide between judiciary and executive in Hungary.

I’m leading the Socialists and Democrats on this issue in the European Parliament, which also goes to the heart of media freedoms in Hungary. One immediate possibility for reproach is the use of “Article 7”, which is a power the European Parliament has to demand the EU Council investigate a country in potential breach of EU law. Why this is so important is simple – Europe is not simply a collection of countries with mutual interests. Europe is a community of values, one that, if protected and enhanced, will secure democracy, civil liberties and international cooperation into an uncertain 21st century and beyond.

What concerns me most about recent events in Hungary, then, is the threat of a change to the basic social contract in that country, away, that is, from its natural place in Europe’s community of values. Here, what I think is essential is that we as Socialists understand the general trend behind why Hungary is making such changes right under the nose of the European Union and the country’s European partners.

A long recession, and subsequent sovereign debt crises, have obviously both impacted Hungary heavily. The country has been far from exempt from the austerity agenda dominating national policies across most of the rest of Europe. In January, Hungary’s currency began to depreciate rapidly, and the International Monetary Fund said the country must take “tangible steps” to resolve policy before any aid talks can resume. Even worse, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch Ratings have all recently downgraded Hungary’s credit rating status to the lowest level “junk”. Orban is himself painfully aware of how governments in Spain, Italy, Ireland and Greece have toppled as a direct result of similar ongoing financial and economic problems, and must be aware of how even French President Nicolas Sarkozy is seemingly threatened by a growing French concern over the economy. In February, nearby Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned, along with his entire cabinet, following a long line of violent anti-austerity protests in his country.

Orban, it seems, is attempting to fight the trend not just by pandering to the far-right with populist politics, but also by protecting himself and his ruling party with changes to Hungary’s constitution. This is of exceptional importance, as it comprises a challenge to the European Union itself. Ensuring that Europe and Europeans act against long-term rightward swings during the recession is one thing. But even more urgent is to prevent permanent, undemocratic changes to countries’ governing norms.

I’ve written about Europe’s general rightward trend before, drawing attention to multiple examples of how the individual politics of European Member States are experiencing a swing to the politics of the right. During 2010 and 2011, we saw multiple examples of a trend to the popularization of what was once considered hard right agendas. France deported Roma people in 2010, in contravention of EU law. This was Sarkozy pandering to recession-hit Front National voters ahead of 2012’s French presidential elections. And in 2011, Italians dismissed refugees fleeing North Africa during the Arab Spring, and Denmark reintroduced border controls under the direct influence of their domestic far right.

As disturbing as these events were, there was an intrinsic limit on the long-term damage they could do to the real Europe, a community of values. This was because, in each incident of a populist, right-wing move, the Member State in question was appealing to a shift in domestic politics, not constitutions. Dangerous is how sentiment during a long recession is acting as a Trojan horse for the far-right. Even more dangerous could be how, in countries like Hungary, sitting governments may protect themselves with repression and constitutional changes, things far harder to undo when the economy eventually picks up and popular discontent subsides.

Claude Moraes is a Labour MEP for London.