Hungary’s Democracy Is in Danger, E.U. Parliament Decides

"Orban was democratically elected," But: - 48% of the voters voted his party. - in this 48% , around 5-6% of the votes comes from abroad, totally NEW citizens who only come for vote, and get the money for it. They hungarian too,but never lived,never worked in Hungary. They are minority in another country,next to Hungary. EBESZ criticized the clarity of the vote. - with this 48% his party has around 68% - above 2/3 - representative. orban often refers the Hungarian constitution , he refers his own constitution, which he made and modifies arount 2-3 months. So only 1 patry modifies the constitution,the most relevant law, with only 48%of the voters... is it democracy? where is the other parties, where is the other peoples will?

wow reading the comments from all these people living in the Americas & thinking they have all of this figured out so well is pretty funny. I believe most should try to diversify their sources of information and maybe read some local European news before judging on something they quite evidently don't have much knowledge of, merely opinions.

Readers need to be carefully, if I may say humbly, that European Union (E.U.) is not the same as the federation called Canada nor as the union called the U.S.A.. There are very important differences. The E.U. is a union of nations not of states or provinces. This means there is a whole series of differences that are as much as influenced by the present as by the past in mind frames still effected by culture and history more so than in the U.S.A. or Canada . It is far more different than comparing one state in the U.S.A. to another or one province in Canada to another. This above latter all means that no matter how well or how bad we consider history there is much more effects from history in the E.U. than might be the case in North American living and/or politics. I know we want good summaries since our time is limited, but, a summary is always that - a summary - and no matter how good some parts left out might be critical to understanding. We often have made the presumption that democracy should be defined the same way everywhere to be considered democracy. However, I am a child of holocaust survivors born in Canada who started and ran the largest large private human rights organization in Eastern Europe for over twenty-five years for my parents taught me that from a distance the past is not always fully understood for it is often written by the survivors and/or 'winners' and memory does amazing things to us so that we become more comfortable with our present.

The EU is overplaying their hand. Orban was democratically elected, the overwhelming choice of the Hungarians. What were his crimes exactly? 1. Merely suggesting to legalize the death penalty — but without carrying the suggestion out 2. Calling to end liberal democracy – i.e., read ending open borders. Certainly the right of any sovereign country. 3. Being in conflict with the European Union’s leadership - good for him for pushing back against Merkel, who was barely reelected in Germany and should not be a leader of the EU 4. Stacking the Hungarian constitutional court with loyalists, – so what, in the US, this would be called nominations by the POTUS, and would be voted up or down by Congress. 5. Installing loyalists at the top of major state institutions - so what, in the US, this would be called presidential appointments. 6. This summer he has appeared more comfortable in the company of far-right figures such as Matteo Salvini, the new Italian interior minister – so what, Salvini did well in the democratic Italian election and is a member of the coalition government in Italy.

Orban should not worry, the EU will dissolve soon enough anyway, before a stronger rebuke can occur. First with Brexit, then with the elections of EU-skeptic governments, which will only increase. The EU stands for open borders and mass migration, trade with Iran, and rebuking Israel. The EU is not aligned with their citizens on migration, and will see more and more pushback on this topic. They will become more and more irrelevant.

Hungary's democratic institutions - such as they were after a ramshackle transition from communism - have been gutted. Everything has been remade for the ease and profit of the Prime Minster and his coterie. No one is arrested for speaking up against the government, but there is no way to organize a meaningful opposition. The blame for this lies mainly with Mr. Orban, of course, but the EU and the US just stood by in willful ignorance as democracy was being demolished in Hungary.

Hungary gets a net payment from the EU of roughly 5 billion euro annually, Sweden in comparision pays ~2.5billion euro annually for the membership. I wonder why I should pay Mr Orban and his cronies so that they can continue with their neo-nazi feodal experiment ?. The rules for entering the EU were known beforehand. You don't join a sportsclub on one day just to spit on the rules that comes with the membership the next day.

It took the E.U. until it was too late for democracy in Hungary. Courts, constitution fixed; laws changed; voting districts fixed; opposition papers closed etc. How long for the US to recognize that Trumpbis on the same path? Too unbelievable? Two years ago you would not have believed where we would be today, and today, you don’t even blink.

Take the EU money and run from collective EU responsibilities. Hungarians should hang their heads in shame. Hungarians a people who as a refugee population were welcome into Western Europe and all Western Democracies in the 1950's. On thing we must fault the EU for is: they were too quick to give east Europeans money and freedoms while failing to instill real Democratic Values in too many Eastern Europeans. Some of the worse right wing militarism comes from former Communist States.

This is welcome news. The EU emerged not just as a medium for trade and travel but also in the wake of the devastation of two world wars, genocide, and the abuses committed by dictators, autocrats and other bad actors. The EU has human rights and democracy at its core and as part of a prerequisite for belonging---it's crucial that the EU demand that states maintain cultures of human rights and the pillars and practices of democracy and not just symbolically. The silence from the EU on Hungary (and Poland) has been resounding. It's critical that the EU--as a group of member states--stand up and speak out for values that are at risk not just in Hungary, but globally, including the US.

Hungarian democracy in danger indeed. The poor "ignorant" citizens of Hungary did not know that their vote has to be ideologically correct, so now they are facing EU sanctions. Other than that, one of the few countries in the EU where a Jew can wear a kippah in public without the fear of being assaulted has been condemned for 'antisemitism", by mostly EU MPs who come from countries where decades of progressive rule has led to an environment where Jews no longer dare to identify themselves in public. This example is just a sample of the absurdity and lack of objectivity of that Sargentini report that they just voted for today. Also, in a lesson of EU "democracy" they changed the rules, counting abstaining votes as absent in order to ram this fiasco through. So yes, Hungarian and EU democracy are indeed in danger. In danger of being destroyed by an EU liberal-Marxist-globalist ideological dictatorship. And contrary to popular rhetoric, most countries cannot just leave, because the EU would make sure that it would be economic thus national suicide.

No wonder the Brits are leaving, they've had enough of EU democratic dictatorship. They would probably invade Hungary if they had a capable army. Do not bow the knee Hungary, other nations will follow your lead.

It's about time! Talented and ambitious Hungarians are leaving for Europe and China China! I personally know A Hungarian engineer moving to Shanghai for better pay and opportunities. Street vendors looking for a better life in Switzerland, Germany, anywhere but Hungary where options are worse day by day because political power serves oligarchs and economic opportunity is dead. Who is left?

Finally, The EU comes down on him. Now if they could work out a solution to Brexit that will keep Britain in, things would start to look better.

Good. Without the cash flowing to Orban and his buddies from the EU, the party will be over soon.

The EU is getting to be as bad as the US MSM and Progressive Democrats, virtually banning ALL thought and policy that does not adhere to rigid Socialist, Globalist and radical Left Wing policy. They have effectively voted away the right of a Nation to choose it's own direction. At this rate,the EU won't last another ten years, and MOST, countries are now regretting their membership, or at least the Citizens of most member states are regretting their joining. The people can and will not be repressed by rigid Liberal ideology as their only choice of governance.

So glad to see the EU moving on this. So far so good. Now take the next step. . . . .

Has not the time arrived for the EU to require a simple majority to get business done? Trying to get anything agreed upon unanimously, given the divergence of opinions, is simply unrealistic. There is also the problem of immigration to sort out. Here again a simple majority might get something accomplished. If the EU can't eliminate this problem, then it's never going to be anything other than a talking shop.

Due to Brexit, the EU is afraid of a firm rebuke of member states, and rightly so. The EU just needs another shoe to drop and any of the member states to call the EU referendum and follow the British precedent. With the slowing economies and raising crime levels by migrants expect more turbulent times ahead.

Wow! NYT just gave me a lesson in "democracy". I posted some basic facts about this whole affair, which I expressed in a respectful manner, and I find that my comment is not published. But evidently the five comments that agree with the article were all kosher. I guess we should all learn to be ideologically correct. "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" Beatrice Hall. Any liberals still remember these basic democratic values?

The EU is overplaying their hand. Orban was democratically elected, the overwhelming choice of the Hungarians. What were his crimes exactly? 1. Merely suggesting to legalize the death penalty — but without carrying the suggestion out 2. Calling to end liberal democracy – i.e., read ending open borders. Certainly the right of any sovereign country. 3. Being in conflict with the European Union’s leadership - good for him for pushing back against Merkel, who was barely reelected in Germany and should not be a leader of the EU 4. Stack the Hungarian constitutional court with loyalists, – so what, in the US, this would be called nominations by the POTUS, and voted up or down by Congress. 5. Installing loyalists at the top of major state institutions - so what, in the US, this would be called presidential appointments. 6. This summer he has appeared more comfortable in the company of far-right figures such as Matteo Salvini, the new Italian interior minister – so what, Salvini did well in the democratic Italian election and is a member of the coalition government in Italy.

Maybe it's not too late and democracy can be saved, at least in some countries. Clearly the whole world is taking note of the rise of Trump and some people are taking appropriate countermeasures.