Hungarian Politics

[Sheilbh]

This is about Poland - but interesting piece by probably my favourite writer on Europe about press there, Hungary is already at the "twilight moment":

Under cover of Covid, Poland is stifling free media – and all Europe should be worried
Timothy Garton Ash

A planned 'coronavirus tax' on revenues and attacks on foreign-owned media threaten to cut away democracy piece by piece


Gazeta Wyborcza's front page reads 'Media without choice' in February, protesting against the new media tax. Photograph: Wojtek Radwański/AFP/Getty Images
Thu 8 Apr 2021 07.00 BST

Democracy dies in darkness. One of the European Union's most fragile democracies, Poland, now faces the spectre of the night that falls when public service media have been turned into propaganda organs for a ruling party while private, independent media are suffocated. In the end, light is cast no more on the failings and abuses of those in power, because there are no more torches to shine that light. Hungary – which is no longer a democracy – has almost reached that twilight moment, with the extinction of its last major independent radio station.

Poland is still a long way from dusk, but the threat is real. In the World Press Freedom index, the country has sunk from 18th in 2015, ahead of Britain and France, to 62nd last year. (Hungary is down at 89th.)

If you watched only Polish state television news over the last fortnight, you would have no idea that Poland is currently among the countries doing the worst during the pandemic. According to Bloomberg's Covid resilience ranking, Poland has fallen to 50th place among the world's 53 largest economies, with only Brazil, the Czech Republic and Mexico performing worse. But switch on the official news and, after brief mention of the latest Covid figures, there are long items about how the government is speeding up the vaccination campaign, with the help of the wonderful army, and how terrible the opposition's record was on public health when it was in power. In other "news", you learn how brilliant Poland's relations are with the US, especially in defence; how much money the government is pumping into the railways and local government; how Christians are being persecuted all over the world; and how a grave was recently uncovered showing more victims of wartime German occupation. The propaganda is more extreme but also more skilful than during the last decade of communist rule.

Only when you turn to the independent TVN24 news do you see footage of long queues of ambulances waiting outside hospitals, because there are no more intensive care beds, and hear doctors explaining how terrible the public health situation really is. TVN24 is not BBC-impartial, but it does serious journalism and gives you the other side of the story. The same "two realities" experience can be had switching from state to private radio, or from government-supporting papers to independent and opposition ones.

Such a hyper-polarised public sphere is already bad enough, as we see in the US, but now the ruling Law and Justice party has launched a systematic attack on independent media. The methods are straight out of Viktor Orbán's playbook in Hungary. Public sector advertising and subscriptions are withdrawn from independent media. All sorts of regulatory chicanery is used against them. Public money is pumped into state television and radio. A "pandemic tax" is proposed on media advertising revenue. A projected law on the "repolonisation" of media would target foreign owners of the biggest independent outlets. A state-owned petrol company, PKN Orlen, whose boss is a Law and Justice party crony, buys both a major press distributor, Ruch, and the largest network of regional newspapers, Polska Press. The most critical papers are bombarded with lawsuits. Gazeta Wyborcza counts more than 60 lawsuits, including one from the justice minister in person. And, as European legal authorities have repeatedly determined, the independence of Polish courts has been so far eroded that you can no longer rely on a fair trial.

This is that old Hungarian speciality, salami tactics: eliminating freedom slice by slice.

Polish media and civil society are resisting strongly, but they need a little help from their friends. The US matters enormously here. The Law and Justice government and president, Andrzej Duda, make much of their special relationship with Washington. But they were strong supporters of Donald Trump, who in return gave Duda electoral assistance last summer. The administration of Joe Biden owes them no favours, and it has an agenda that claims to be strong on democracy and human rights. As well as defending TVN, which is owned by the US company Discovery, Washington should now highlight independent media as the frontline of defending democracy in Poland.

Britain counts for less than it once did in Warsaw because of Brexit but, along with other liberal democracies such as Canada and Australia, it can help turn the spotlight on this issue. Germany is of the first importance, and a German-Swiss group, Ringier Axel Springer, owns one of the most important Polish online platforms, Onet.pl, the tabloid Fakt and a leading weekly, Newsweek Polska. The Polish government tries to silence Berlin by constantly bringing up the second world war, but the proper lesson from that history is not that Germany must be particularly reticent on these issues. It is precisely because of that terrible past that Germany should be the first to speak up for freedom and human rights.

Most important, and most problematic, is the EU. One of the most depressing discoveries of the last few years is that the EU, which spends so much time talking about democracy, is pathetically ineffective when it comes to defending democracy inside its own member states. Now it is going to hand out many more billions of euros to those states, both from the EU-wide post-Covid recovery fund and from the bloc's new seven-year budget. Huge sums will go directly to the populist nationalist governments in Warsaw and Budapest, with only minimal conditions attached. Most of those great investments trumpeted on Polish state television news are done with the help of EU money. At the very least, the EU should make it crystal clear that, under single market rules, foreign media owners may on no account be discriminated against. It should distribute a significant chunk of the new money directly through local government – as suggested by the mayors of Warsaw and Budapest. And it should create a substantial EU fund for the defence of media freedom across the continent.

Last week, the leadership of Poland's Law and Justice party began talks with Orbán and Matteo Salvini of Italy about forming a new populist nationalist grouping in the EU. It is not just democracy in Poland that is at stake here; it is democracy in Europe as a whole.

    Timothy Garton Ash is a Guardian columnist

It reminds me of a recent piece in the New Statesman on why, despite the predictions of some UK politicians, no other country had left the EU. Basically the argument was Brexit was messy and difficult, the UK was always half in/half out (basically it's easier to even imagine leaving if you're an island with one land border) and, crucially, Orban showed that being in the EU is no obstacle to implementing a far-right anti-democratic agenda.

[Tamas]

A potentially very worrying thing I expect Poland and the other padawans will begin to copy eventually, is the creation of what is growing to become a parallel state, removed from the control of elected officials.

At the heart of it is money and power, of course, as always. It seems at least some in Fidesz are worried about losing power and are working on ensuring they will not lose access to payout places.

The way for them to do this are "public foundations". They have been creating these mostly to manage and oversee universities but there have been public foundations created to manage public properties like parks, castles etc. as well.

What does this mean? Quite simple, really: these public foundations receive substantial money from the national budget when formed, and also they must continue to be funded from taxpayer money annually, as first priority, according to law.

And in fact, the public foundation law has not only be made an absolute-majority one (if someone wants to change it) but also this institution of "public foundations" have been added to the constitution as well.

Although at the point of creation it is the government appointing the leadership of these foundations, afterwards they enjoy full autonomy and the state or government are forbidden to exercise any control over their appointments, or budget.

So, essentially, this way they can shelter substantial amounts of annual taxpayer money - not to mention the power and influence wielded by the institutions under such control - away from a "hostile" government even if they happen to lose the election.

Any non-Fidesz government, in turn, will lose all control over substantial elements of the state, unless they can get a 2/3rd majority,

I guess one positive spin on this is that at least they are still thinking of contingencies for losing power at some point.

[The Larch]

That is called "paralel administration" over here, and was quite popular during the 200s, don't go around thinking that you invented corruption in Hungary. 

[Syt]

There's been a scuff with Austria - an Austrian journalist asked the Fidesz Brussels delegation why they met with Lega Nord's Salvini and Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki, but not with members of the French Front National or Austria's FPÖ.

Fidesz refused to answer the questions and instead started a campaign in Hungarian media that this amateur journalist asking silly questions was another example of left wing liberal media attacking conservative-Christian politics.

Austrian foreign minister and the ambassador in Budapest both protested against the campaign.

[Tamas]

There's been a scuff with Austria - an Austrian journalist asked the Fidesz Brussels delegation why they met with Lega Nord's Salvini and Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki, but not with members of the French Front National or Austria's FPÖ.

Fidesz refused to answer the questions and instead started a campaign in Hungarian media that this amateur journalist asking silly questions was another example of left wing liberal media attacking conservative-Christian politics.

Austrian foreign minister and the ambassador in Budapest both protested against the campaign.

Yeah I covered the state TV take on this the previous page, it's been escalating since, but that's very good for Fidesz. The pandemic situation is abysmal they need reminders of the good fight they are fighting protecting their people from the conquering gender-changing West.

[Valmy]

The Habsburgs managed to weasel themselves in to meaningless positions since the 90s IIRC.

I am assuming with the current lot this guy can offer some connections to the inbred old aristocracy.

Maybe they are laying in wait to try what they tried 100 years ago this month: THE HABSBURG COUP! https://www.youtube.com/watchv=hqgcDHCvk9I

[Tamas]

https://insighthungary.444.hu/2021/04/29/hungary-will-not-expel-russian-diplomats-over-czech-explosion-alone-in-the-v4

[Tamas]

Next step of Russification, here we go!

So, I think I mentioned here a year or so ago a Fidesz-appointed ambassador in South America got busted by the Americans for having thousands of child pornography images on his computer, but back home in Hungary he got a suspended sentence akin to a slap on the wrist.

This was very unpopular of course and there was some government talk on a new law to "protect children".

A month or so ago they did propose a new bill to ensure stricter steps against pedophiles. It had some questionnable things like listing convicted ones US sex-offender style and such, and I think it was fairly obvious they were hoping on some of these controversial baits, the opposition parties would bite. Next year there'll be "elections" after all.

But, the opposition parties did not bite. Those who acted on this bill PR-wise asked for more severe punishments. Overall the controversy factor was pretty low since it concerned how to act with convicted pedos. So this was a dud.

Worry not, though. The government has come up with fresh modifications to this anti-child molester bill (highlights from state news service's summary):

-The law will say that school sex education "can't be to encourage gender change or popularise homosexuality"
-There will be detailed rules on only specially accredited persons being able to hold sex ed sessions to avoid the influence "organisations created to represent special sexual orientations" who "under the guise of arguing against discrimination seek to influence children's sexual orientation"
-Children under the state's care will "also have their right to maintain their identity according to their birth sex protected by the state" - whatever that means
-Under age of 18, nobody can be shown/given access to content with pornography, profane sexuality, or which promotes diversion of identity from birth sex or homosexuality. This includes advertisements as well.


To accusations of the law being homophobic, Fidesz said "real liberalism would be if children were left alone with questions considering their sexual orientation until they reach the age of 18".

I am not really surprised they'll go after not "just" transgenders to find a new enemy (they have started that a while ago) but homosexuals as well, but it really is disgusting.

[Tamas]

On the above, RTL Hungary, the biggest (and only) nationwide government-free TV station released a condemnation of the bill and highlighted that if it is to be taken literally, such movies series will need to be moved to late night slots and getting an 18+ rating:

-Billy Elliott
-Philadelphia
-Bridget Jones' Diary
-some of the Harry Potter movies
-Modern Family
-Friends
-few Hungarian TV series you never heard of

[Sheilbh]

Two very striking threads from Mujtaba Rahman:

Mujtaba Rahman
@Mij_Europe
Jun 2
Very concerning news out of Hungary. Orban, apparently fearing civil unrest in next year's election, wants to give the Hungarian army a "freer hand" to control civil unrest. You are defined by the company you keep. Does Orban want to emulate the Putin, Lukashenko playbook? 1/
As I understand it, under current legal restrictions, members of the Hungarian armed forces aren't allowed to open fire on civilians except under the command of the police. Orban is now preparing to allow the military independent action during protests 2/
Hungary's armed forces chief Ferenc Korom resigned unexpectedly half way through his term last week, officially because his immediate tasks, including army reorganisation & relocation of command HQ had been completed 3/
But there have been leaked reports of acrimonious disputes between the military leadership & Defence Minister Tibor Benko. Things came to a head last week - with Benko demanding a new role for the army in terms of controlling potential civil unrest 4/
To be clear: Despite Orban's authoritarian streak, it's highly unlikely he has any desire for troops to make use of live ammunition in any possible future unrest. Rather, this is a new phase in his use of intimidatory tactics 5/
Remember, Orban has already gone over the top - deploying troops in hospitals, "strategic companies" & in tandem with police on street patrols in Budapest & elsewhere since declaring a national "state of danger" in March 2020 to fight Covid 6/
This move, then, is another indication of Orban's fear of losing next spring's national elections.
He should be. Despite gerrymandering, massive media dominance & corruption, the united, six-party opposition alliance is leading Fidesz in the polls by a silk thread (33%-32%) ENDS

And then today:

Mujtaba Rahman
@Mij_Europe
8h
On the day of NATO summit, it's worth re-highlighting that PM Orban wants to give HU military the right to control civilian protestors without coming under police control - & making the Chief of Army responsible for any resulting tragedies. I tweeted about this in early June 1/
While I don't believe Orban wants to use live ammunition on civilians, I understand this potential scenario was the principal reason for the sudden resignation of Ferenc Korom, Hungary's armed forces chief (Korom was also being asked to sign off on corrupt arms procurement deals)
I understand Korom, who had huge respect as a "soldiers' soldier" from senior officers to the lowly private in the Hungarian forces, refused to buckle under enormous pressure to agree to this 3/
As one officer put it: "The General was my commander in Hódmezővásárhely [a town in SE Hungary]. A real soldier. I am humanly and professionally sorry that he became a victim of politics." 4/
He, along with his deputy Lieutenant General Gabor Borondi and at least one other senior commander, have been packed off incommunicado to allow the dust to settle 5/
At a meeting on 31 May at Hungarian Army HQ in Szekesfehervar, Defence Minister Tibor Benko and Korom's replacement, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi, warned all senior officers that releasing any information about Korom's departure amounted to a military crime against the state 6/
Losing your job, your children's school and a host of other perks is not high on anyone's list of swaps for a spell in a military jail, of course, so free-speaking officers are not exactly easy to locate right now 7/
Nonetheless, as far as I can tell, my original thread has been ignored by the Hungarian media, even though some journalists have asked me for my sources 8/
So here are some more nuggets of information that might assist local journalists to flesh out the story. This, as far as I understood and can reconstruct, is a sketchy time-line of recent events 9/
May 25: Korom wrote a letter to Janos Ader, the President of Hungary, stating that he did not wish to sign or even consider any order for the future involvement of soldiers on the street. Nor would he sign off some some payments files relating to certain army procurements 10/
May 26: In a closed session, Orbán discussed this with his inner circle, and instructed President Ader to fire Korom with immediate effect 11/
May 27: Around 6.00 AM Korom's resignation was reported in the Hungarian Gazette. Neither Korom nor any of his staff members knew about this, only hearing about it from the media at about 7.00 AM 12/
7.00 – 8.00 AM, Korom tried to talk about this with both President Ader and PM Orban. Neither answered his call 13/
Approx 9.00 AM, Korom and some other staff members received notice of immediate dismissal from the Presidential Office. They were also some sent on mandatory vacation for an indefinite period 14/
All their military ID and rights were withdrawn, so they could not access their desks or offices. All military mobile phones, laptops, and other equipment pieces were confiscated by Intelligence Officers 15/
Some local sources tell me the bigger reason Korom's dismissal was his sabotaging/resisting of corruption. And that an amendment to allow the military to control protests without the police was already passed in 2016. This may also be a factor in the story 16/
Still, what was being forced on Korom was that HE would personally have to sign any such orders allowing soldiers to control protestors. This would mean that henceforth, politicians could wriggle out of any responsibility & blame the Chief of Army for any deaths or injuries 17/
Hopefully this is a start for local media hacks. Some of the detail may have been distorted in the telling, if so I'm open to correction by folks on the ground. But I'm confident the essence of the above is accurate
ENDS

[Tamas]

I haven't heard of this, although I am sure they will reach this stage eventually.

[The Larch]

So, a bunch of EU countries have signed a statement condemning Hungary's anti-LGBT law, and I feel that it serves a bit like a "line in the sand" kind of issue to see who's on each side about this and similar issues:



Good on the Baltics to be moving towards tolerance, dissappointed about Austria and Greece, and maybe Slovenia as well (although maybe not a surprise due to its current government).

[Monoriu]

What Hungary wants to do is Hungary's business. 

[Threviel]

What Hungary wants to do is Hungary's business.

How many social points is that comment worth?

[Monoriu]

What Hungary wants to do is Hungary's business.

How many social points is that comment worth?

None 

I mean, the idea that sovereign states should not interfere in other sovereign states' business probably originated in the Peace of Westphalia, not me.