Illiberalism, Hungary, Poland, democracy, EU european union, nationalism, media, freedom, gender equality
On 28 July 2014, at the twenty-fifth summer university in B?ile Tu?nad, Romania, Viktor Orbán declared: "The new state we are building in Hungary is not a liberal state, it is an illiberal state based on the value of labour." Indeed, since he came to power in Hungary in 2010, and won the elections in 2014 and 2018, Viktor Orbán and his party, Fidesz, have declared themselves to be illiberal and appear to be its main defenders. He fully assumes this drift, which some describe as authoritarian. It promotes the concept of "old-fashioned Christian democracy" and declares that "the era of liberal democracy is coming to an end," believing that it "fails to protect human dignity, is unable to offer freedom, cannot guarantee security and can no longer maintain Christian culture." On the other hand, the Polish government led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski's ultra-conservative and nationalist Law and Justice Party PiS in the 2015 elections adopted the slogan "Budapest to Warsaw." Indeed, after its victory, Poland takes Hungary as a model and the two countries show their solidarity. Since then, Poland has been characterised as illiberal and close to the Hungarian orientation. These are the two countries most often given as examples of illiberalism.
[...] This societal and cultural liberalism aims, according to the proponents of illiberalism, at the dissolution of traditional values, namely the family, the nation and the church. Thus, the illiberal approach to democracy by Hungary and Poland constitutes a break with the values of the European Union because of the lack of respect for freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Of course, the entrenchment of illiberal democracies in Hungary and Poland would not fail to influence other states in the region, threatening Europe's very foundations. [...]
[...] The Hungarian law prohibits or restricts access by persons under 18 to content promoting or depicting what it calls "deviations from personal identity corresponding to sex at birth, gender reassignment or homosexuality". Mobilisation of civil society Since the summer of 2015, despite the Hungarian government's positions, reactions of solidarity and emergency aid to the tens of thousands of exiles transiting through Hungary have been expressed through charitable organisations such as the Order of Malta lay religious order of the Catholic Church), or spontaneous citizen movements. [...]
[...] But on 17 May 2017, a resolution was adopted by the European Parliament calling on the Hungarian government to repeal the legislative measures adopted in March 2017, recalling that the values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union must be respected by all EU Member States. So far, however, the national authorities have remained unresponsive to this pressure and have stated that they are not considering changing the legislation. Recently, on 22 July 2022, the European Commission decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union over a Hungarian law that the Commission believes violates the fundamental rights of LGBT persons. [...]
[...] These values are common to the Member States in a society characterised by pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men." Then, we will ask: How does Hungary's and Poland's illiberal approach to democracy, accompanied by a nationalistic retreat, constitute a break with the values of the European Union? The promotion of illiberal democracy as a solution to the dissolution of traditional values The case of Hungary Viktor Orbàn and his party, Fidesz, came to power in his country in 2010 as Prime Minister, and was elected in the and 2022 elections with a two-thirds majority in Parliament. [...]
[...] How does Hungary's and Poland's illiberal approach to democracy, accompanied by a nationalistic retreat, constitute a break with the values of the European Union? On 28 July 2014, at the twenty-fifth summer university in Băile Tuşnad, Romania, Viktor Orbán declared: 'The new state we are building in Hungary is not a liberal state, it is an illiberal state based on the value of labour.' Indeed, since he came to power in Hungary in 2010, and won the elections in 2014 and 2018, Viktor Orbán and his party, Fidesz, have declared themselves to be illiberal and appear to be its main defenders. [...]
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