Threats to democracy in Europe: the Hungarian case

Abstract

The protection of democracy is a complex theoretical and applied problem of political science. In the article the problem is analysed on the example of the activities of the European Parliament, in particular, a content analysis of its nine resolutions is carried out. These documents were adopted in Strasbourg from 2011 to 2022. All of them are about the state of democracy in only one of the EU member states – Hungary. The resolutions are similar to each other, as they generally state systematically the curtailment of rights and freedoms in Hungary. At the beginning of V. Orban’s government, his evaluations by the European Parliament were critical but declarative. In the end, the resolutions turned into quite detailed documentary evidence of the development of autocracy in Hungary. Multiple repetitions and mutual calls in these documents were revealed, which at the same time only confirm the thesis that the problem of autocracy is outdated. The analysis of the documents allows us to assert that even in the transnational institution itself, they are aware of their own inertia and inaction. In the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war, MEPs call on the EU institutions to use all existing tools to ensure the protection of democracy in Europe. At the same time, there are obvious warnings about the uncontrollability of modern autocracies. The problem of protecting the democratic aspirations of citizens on an all-union and generally global scale appears as a specific way of democratization „from below” vs. „from above”. The experience of Hungarian (anti)democracy is read in retrospect, as well as through the prism of the realities of Russian aggression. While documenting cases of delayed response to acute threats to democracy, it is worth refraining from destructive criticism of international institutions in general. Instead, it is recommended to look for innovative models, specific mechanisms and tools that will help to develop the defence capability of world democracy, work more quickly and make the necessary security decisions, including the efforts of already existing institutions.