Europe’s Hungary Problem

FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Just as one rotten apple can spoil a barrel, one brutish autocrat can spoil a political union. As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has consolidated power and built an increasingly authoritarian regime, he has thumbed his nose at the European Union—and mostly gotten away with it. Over the past few years, Orban has been a mild embarrassment for the union, but in his callous and shortsighted reaction to the ongoing refugee crisis, he has become a disgrace.

Styling itself as the defender of Europe’s so-called Christian civilization against an Islamic invasion, Orban’s regime has left thousands of refugees to languish in fields and in the streets, forcibly herded others into squalid detention camps, and fired water cannons and teargas at refugees gathered against the razor wire fence Hungary has erected on its border with Serbia.

European civilization may in fact be at risk. But it is Orban and his regime, not the desperate men, women, and children marching along the highway from Budapest to Vienna, who pose the real danger. The European Union claims to stand for liberal democracy, respect for human dignity, and human rights. With his regime’s xenophobic rhetoric and hostile treatment of refugees, Orban is making a mockery of these values and encouraging other eastern European governments to follow his example… (more)

Share

1 Comment

  1. What a rascist report. Your report does not talk of real issues but simply demonizes Orban. In truth the greater the islamic appeasement the more the racism on non muslims and women.

    Actually the tone of your article is filled with hate and by the way I have lived in Europe – speak 5 european languages and left because of the german appeasement racism. I also am a woman and lived in islamic neighbourhoods in Berlin where honor killings were regular.

    People like you are the real racists – nihilist to the core and not interested either in responsible liberalism but instead cult nihilism

    EDITOR: If you question the Budapest Beacon’s reporting, we refer you to the Op-Ed “Hungary’s Politics of Hate” published yesterday or the day before in the New York Times. We also respectfully suggest that your experiences living in Germany does not necessarily relate to what is taking place in Hungary. In fact, Germany and Hungary have been at polar opposites on the migration issue.

Comments are closed.