Although its action tends to be perceived as undemocratic by fellow EU member states, Hungary’s right-wing conservative party Fidesz has just been confirmed in power by a large majority. Hungary has become a test case for the Copenhagen Criteria, according to which the stability of democratic institutions is a condition for EU accession, but not for continued EU membership.
Whereas the country was still considered 10 years ago as a model of post-communist transition, the political choices of Hungary are now disquieting to many. A group of Hungarian economists, sociologists, legal experts and former politicians analyzes the oligarchic system set up by Victor Orbán’s party.
Historical episodes of collective violence in the 20th century have given rise to a series of debates which can be seen as “crises of memory”, according to Susan Rubin Suleiman. As these crises of memory unravel, they have an impact not only on collective memory but also on literature and the public sphere.
The Orban government has enacted sweeping changes that have raised the specter of autocracy in Hungary: is the European Union about to have a dictatorship among its member states? For Andrew Arato, even enemies of the new regime should recognize that it is still only a demokradura, a hard democracy: only then will they be able to go back on the current reforms.
