THE ECONOMIST: HUNGARY is under the international spotlight. In January the country takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union. But there is growing alarm about the increasing centralisation of power under the right-wing Fidesz government led by Viktor Orban, Hungary’s pugnacious prime minister.
Fidesz won an unprecedented two-thirds majority in April’s general election. Since then, say its critics, it has embarked on a power grab, taking over almost every independent institution. Pal Schmitt, an emollient former member of the European Parliament, has been appointed to the presidency. A “statement of national co-operation”, to be placed in public buildings, claims that only now has Hungary regained its self-determination, though it has been a democracy for two decades…
“We are in an incredibly difficult situation,” says Tibor Navracsics, the justice minister. Few would disagree. After eight years of sloth and corruption under the Socialists, Hungary’s economy is in a parlous state. The country has the EU’s lowest employment rate, at 55%. During Socialist rule, when party apparatchiks enriched themselves, often at public expense, the eastern half of the country fell behind. One in three Hungarians lives on or below the poverty line; far more among the Roma (Gypsy) minority. About 70% of all household and business debt is denominated in foreign currencies, mainly Swiss francs, making the country hostage to a currency over which it has limited control… (more)
