OhOne day last month, I stood among a large group of people at the bottom of Budapest’s Andrássy Street and heard Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán say: Condemned the EU, His non-democratic country is still a full member of it. “They will force us to be Europeans, sensitive and free-even if it will kill us,” he said. “Today, the words and deeds of Brussels against us and the Poles are as usual for the enemy. We have a sense of deja vu, because throughout Europe, we have heard Brezhnev doctrine.’This comes from someone whose entire regime relies heavily on EU funds. Talk about biting your hand for feeding. The crowd murmured their support, although louder applause was reserved for the route, “Hungary will be the first country in Europe to stop aggressive LGBTQ propaganda at school gates.” I did not see a European flag.
However, at the other end of Andrássy Street, when I passed a large group of coach cars that used to ride buses among Orbán supporters, I arrived at an opposition rally. Here, a much smaller crowd waved European flags.Here i hear Peter Marchi-ZayAs a candidate for the united opposition in the parliamentary elections next spring, he announced that they will restore democracy to Hungary and the legal standards of the European Union. When talking about the abuse of EU funds by the Orban regime, Marchi-Zay said: “We should join the European Prosecutor’s Office. This will not violate our sovereignty, but only the sovereignty of criminals.” Then a large group of opposition candidates , From right to left, from six parties, crowded together on the stage for a group photo.
After that, I had the opportunity to talk to Márki-Zay. This 49-year-old man is well-proportioned, well-dressed and quick-spoken. He has been a salesperson in Canada and the United States for many years. “I am everything Viktor Orbán pretended,” he told me. Márki-Zay is a conservative, mayor of a town in the Hungarian province, a devout Christian and father of seven children. This made the Orban regime a big mistake. Its election script has so far been aimed at the demonized international left. At the political assembly, Orban announced The opposition leaders “have been competing to see which of them can rule the Hungarians under the grace of Brussels and George Soros…who might become the new Pasha [Ottoman ruler] Buda…their goal is to take Hungary from Hungary [the Virgin] Mary, put it at the feet of Brussels. “But this seems absurd to conservative Catholics from the heart of Hungary.
Suddenly, next spring, the opportunity for the opposition to win in sports appeared. However, it will be an uphill struggle to get six different parties to unite and carry out an effective election campaign around a non-partisan candidate. The election will not be completely free, and it is absolutely unfair. Orban controls most of the country’s media and shamelessly used national resources to support his Fidesz party and ruling coalition in the 2018 elections. Hungary According to reports, he is the only EU member state not invited to participate in President Joe Biden’s “Democracy Summit” later this year. This is very correct because Hungary is not a democratic country now. It is a mixed regime between democracy and dictatorship. It is restricted but maintained by the status of EU member states. When describing Fidesz’s large and effective propaganda machine, a leading independent reporter told me: “Orbán used EU money to build this machine.”
Therefore, the EU and its democratic member states have the obligation and opportunity to support Hungary in restoring democracy. At the request of the elected mayors of Budapest, Warsaw and other cities, a larger portion of EU funds should be used directly in cities, local governments and non-governmental organizations. (The Orban government has cut funding for Budapest.) According to the request of the European Parliament, the European Commission should have implemented a new mechanism that links EU funding with respect for the rule of law.
At present, the European Economic Recovery Fund’s funding for Hungary and Poland has been shelved by the committee. In particular, the approval of the Hungarian national plan should depend on stricter transparency and corruption regulations.Have Extensive evidence Misuse of EU funds in Hungary, including EU reports Anti-fraud Office. In public contracts from time to time, there is only one bidder, and the bid is often proven to come from Orbán’s oligarch’s crony. In some cases, the winning bidder seems to be closely related to his extended family members (such as his son-in-law).
Everyone knows this, but European politicians have been reluctant to say it out loud. EU heads of government often meet and rely on their peers to reach political transactions within the EU, so they are reluctant to criticize each other in public. But there is a higher order here. Corrupt, lawless, unfree, and undemocratic member states are not only bad in themselves; they threaten the entire functioning of the EU as a democratic, law-based political system. As far as Hungary is concerned, in the next few months, the focus on corruption will be politically significant, as Marchi-Zay won his mayorship on an anti-corruption platform and is now nationwide. Election on the same theme.
Of course EU officials should be meticulous in maintaining fairness, but elected European politicians must not back down. As Márki-Zay himself has emphasized, you need to speak up straight in order to penetrate the “bubble” created by the Orban propaganda machine. The usual Brussels Peak will not pass.
The new German government has a special responsibility. Although Germany itself is a model of liberal democracy, it has been a promoter of the erosion of Hungarian democracy in the past decade. The change of government in Berlin is the best time to change the message and tone. I am particularly concerned about the Green Party. They always regard democracy and human rights as an important part of their plan. They also pay attention to the Liberal Democrats and the Social Democrats. After all, it is German taxpayers’ money that is being misused. democracy On the Danube.
Orban is also an international icon of non-freedom rights, including Trump-style Americans such as Tucker Carlson of Fox News. The day I left Budapest, Marina Le Pen of France arrived there and was welcomed by Orban and praised him in response. In the end, European leaders will not just seize a real opportunity to restore democracy in a beautiful, historic Central European country. They will also serve the cause of democracy throughout Europe and other regions.
