Today Hungary’s new constitution came into effect. It seems there are many democratic problems with it.
According to the article quoted above, ‘Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and head of the Liberals in the European parliament, has called the law a “Trojan horse for a more authoritarian political system in Hungary based on the perpetuation of one-party rule”’.
I don’t know enough about it, but what I’ve read so far seems worrying, especially given that Hungary is a member of the EU.
I wonder how bad the situation will have to get before the country’s EU membership is suspended (if that’s even possible).
Of course things might sort themselves out before the situation gets out of hand, but we have to remember that democratic government can be replaced by an authoritarian regime, especially during a recession – remember Germany in 1933, for instance.