[spectre] Re: illiberal state

[Janos Sugar]

Viktor Orban's illiberal world
Gideon Rachman | Jul 30 07:50 
http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2014/07/viktor-orbans-illiberal-world/
Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, has just cemented his 
reputation as the problem child of the European Union with a speech 
in which he argued that "liberal democratic societies cannot remain 
globally competitive". All EU countries are meant to subscribe to a 
set of values that could broadly be described as liberal and 
democratic. But Mr Orban suggested that the Hungarian government is 
now looking elsewhere for inspiration - citing China, Russia, Turkey 
and Singapore as potential role models.
Mr Orban's speech - which was delivered to an audience of ethnic 
Hungarian leaders, meeting in neighbouring Romania - will exacerbate 
fears in Brussels that democracy in Hungary is at risk. To be fair to 
the Hungarian prime minister, he sought to make a distinction between 
liberalism and democracy, arguing that while Hungary will continue to 
respect "freedom and democracy", it should reject liberalism's stress 
on individual rights - "The Hungarian nation is not a mere pile of 
individuals", he asserted.
Nonetheless, some of the countries that Mr Orban cited - such as 
Russia, China and Turkey - are hardly encouraging models those who 
cherish democratic rights. On the contrary, they are all noted for - 
to varying degrees - intimidating the press, interfering with the 
judiciary and harassing NGOs. These are all things that the Hungarian 
government is also regularly accused of. Mr Orban's defenders 
furiously deny that press freedom or an independent judiciary are 
under attack in Hungary. But the prime minister's choice of role 
models is certainly suggestive.
Hungary's peculiar path under Viktor Orban also has implications 
beyond its borders. The EU has just agreed on serious new sanctions 
against Russia. But Mr Orban clearly has some sympathy with President 
Putin's political style. Hungary has also recently strengthened 
economic ties with Russia. And Mr Orban has also complained about the 
treatment of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine (as well as elsewhere) 
- which is a little off-message, at a time when the EU is trying to 
support Ukraine against Russian aggression. The Hungarian prime 
minister also regularly flirts with the idea that Hungary may one day 
regain some of the territories that it lost after the first world war.
At a time when the EU faces so many other problems, it has often been 
easier for Brussels to ignore Viktor Orban. But the Hungarian prime 
minister looks like a problem who is not going to go away.