Saturday, 31 May 2025
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** The EU is losing patience with Hungary
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The European Convention on Human Rights was set up in the aftermath of World War Two to protect the rights of people in the Council of Europe’s 47 member states. Enshrined within it are fundamental obligations around free speech, including the right to free expression and the right to protest. It was intended to act as a blueprint for democracy and a rules-based order – but certain member states are tearing up this rulebook, none more so than Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, and seemingly getting away with it.

In recent years, Orbán has intensified his crackdown on democratic principles, including eroding academic freedoms ([link removed]) and increasing hostility towards the media. In April, Orbán even decided to withdraw Hungary from the International Criminal Court ([link removed]) – a pan-global organisation set up to uphold the rule of law and hold those charged with the gravest war crimes accountable.

The LGBTQ+ community has been particularly targeted in Hungary, with laws passed ([link removed]) abolishing the legal recognition of transgender people in 2020 and banning the depiction of homosexuality to under-18s in 2021. A recent escalation is a law banning Pride marches, introduced in March, under the guise that such gatherings are harmful to children. At the time, Orbán said: “We won’t let woke ideology endanger our kids.”

Hungary’s parliament has since passed a series of other amendments tightening the government’s grip on those seeking to attend Pride, which will allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify people at events, and potentially fine them up to 200,000 Hungarian forint (HUF), the equivalent of $560. Protests have erupted across Hungary since the law was passed, and thousands are expected to turn out in defiance at Budapest Pride on 28 June.

Meanwhile, other draft legislation is making its way through parliament that is reminiscent of Russia’s “foreign agent” law – the Transparency of Public Life bill ([link removed]) , if passed, would allow the government to penalise and ban dissenting voices and critics deemed detrimental to Hungary’s national interests, including the press and NGOs.

Hungary’s recent actions not only contravene the ECHR, but also the European Union’s (EU) policies around democracy and human rights, as laid out in its treaties and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, of which its 27 member states are meant to abide by.

But the political tide appears to be turning. Hungary is clearly moving further and further away from the fundamental values of the EU, and many member countries are growing frustrated with the Central European state, and with the European Commission for not taking strong enough action.

This week, 17 EU countries, including France, Germany, Ireland and Spain, signed a declaration ([link removed]) expressing their concerns and dismay over Hungary’s anti-Pride law. They have called on Orbán to revise it, and have asked the European Commission to take legal action against Hungary if it does not do so.

Michael McGrath, the EU commissioner responsible for democracy, said this week ([link removed]) the “willingness is there” to take action against Hungary, and that a “comprehensive analysis of the relevant legislation is underway now”.

But so far, retribution for Hungary’s actions has been negligible. The European Council has discussed Hungary’s rule of law violations seven times ([link removed]) in the European Parliament since 2018, but has never taken the next step in the process, which would allow member states to vote on sanctions against Hungary.

There have been some financial penalties, but relations between the EU and Hungary are likely complicated by the need for cooperation against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In December 2022, the European Commission froze €30 billion ([link removed]) ($34 billion) in funds to Hungary, after the country’s failure to address concerns around democracy and the rule of law; a year later, a third of these funds were unfrozen, with speculation that Orbán was threatening to impede the EU’s actions in supporting Ukraine.

Patience with Hungary amongst EU nations appears to be wearing thin. The question is: how long will Orbán’s impunity be allowed to continue, and what example does this set for other EU countries wishing to replicate his methods?

Sarah Dawood

Editor, Index on Censorship


** More from Index
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From Samoa to Egypt: The week in free expression ([link removed])

A round-up of the key stories covering censorship and free expression from the past seven days ([link removed])

Afghanistan’s silent healthcare crisis ([link removed])

A ban on female healthcare workers is leaving women in a dire situation under Taliban rule ([link removed])

Corruption in Nigeria silences whistleblowers ([link removed])

A lack of protection for health workers is widening the West African country’s inequality gap ([link removed])

On Russia’s naughty list ([link removed])

Amnesty International, tech giant Apple and Meduza have an unfortunate bond ([link removed])

Index joins calls for action against Hungary’s “Transparency of Public Life” Bill ([link removed])

Read the open letter signed by over 300 NGOs ([link removed])

Mass expulsion of at-risk Afghans from Pakistan imperils livesThe nation must halt the arbitrary mass deportation of Afghan nationals ([link removed])

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** Introducing our Am I facing a SLAPP? tool
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Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are a form of judicial harassment aimed at intimidating and ultimately silencing anyone who speaks out on issues of political or societal importance.

Our new questionnaire is a useful tool to identify potential SLAPP tactics.

MORE INFORMATION ([link removed])


** From Samoa to Egypt : The week in free expression
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** >> SAMOA: ([link removed]) Nation urged to repeal defamation law that silences journalists ([link removed])
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** >> EGYPT: ([link removed]) UN rules that activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah is being held illegally ([link removed])
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** >> RUSSIA: ([link removed]) New Stalin statue unveiled in subway station ([link removed])
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** >> UGANDA: ([link removed]) Human Rights Watch report condemns nation’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws ([link removed])
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** >> VENEZUELA: ([link removed]) Maduro makes big gains in elections as opposition boycott ([link removed])
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** >> HONG KONG: ([link removed]) Four members of the “Hong Kong 47” released ([link removed])
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** Flashback
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Murder In Mexico ([link removed])

by Brian Glanville ([link removed])

Index on Censorship, volume 41, issue 2 ([link removed])

This month saw the passing of legendary writer and novelist, Brian Glanville – arguably one of the finest football writers of his generation.

In honour of his life, this week we revisit his piece for Index from 2012, recounting his experience of the Tlatelolco Massacre in Mexico in 1968. Glanville had expected to report on the Olympics that year for the Sunday Times – instead he found himself reporting the murder of 300 students. Read the story here. ([link removed])


** Support our work
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The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work calling out human rights abuses and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as Hungary, Russia, and Nigeria has never been more important.

By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.

Please donate today ([link removed])

Photos by: (Protest) Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo; (Mexican soldiers guard a group of young men rounded up after the night that came to be known as the Tlatelolco massacre in October 1968) Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo

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