Europese Beweging:
Petitie: standing up for Hungary, standing up for Europe

In reactie op de controversiële wetsvoorstellen van de regering-Orbán in Hongarije heeft The Spinelli Group de volgende petitie gelanceerd.

In these times, when faced with a largely inherited debt and existential fears shared by an increasingly pessimistic population , the government of Viktor Orbán is introducing blatant violations of fundamental rights by presenting them as being the necessary tools to ensure national sovereignty all Europeans, and Hungarians as well, must refuse the logic of fear and isolation.

If respecting the separation of powers in the economic realm is a focal point for European elites today, it is only a strong movement of civic solidarity that can help Europe out of this dead end. This momentum must bring together all the players of the european political and cultural spectrum who do not choose to use the fear of the other to establish their legitimacy. Hungarians and all Europeans must know that Europe is not a tool of eradication of minorities, of abolition of solidarities, of destruction of "small" languages and cultures.

On the contrary, after a phase of construction in which elites have long claimed to be building Europe because of economic constraints but still constantly returning to the national grail for legitimacy, it is now time to move on to social and civic solidarity.

In early January, the Hungarian press echoed positions that backed the current government's right to limit the scope of criticism in public or private media in the name of defending national sovereignty and the right of each State to stigmatize foreign threats. And the very official argument in defense of the media law quoted all the cases of executive encroachment on media freedom (France, Portugal, Italy, increased control of the BBC, and others) to justify the official choice of Hungary.

The Hungarian issue is thus clearly European. As European Citizens, we call on those who read this call for a Europe of shared citizenship, to sign it in order to manifest clearly their support for a Europe based on a perspective of civic solidarity, at a time when the European Parliament, Commission and lastly Council are undertaking a review of the measures taken by the Hungarian government. This is to encourage all those who wish to show the European and Hungarian authorities that the desire to live together in harmony is indeed the strongest.

Currently the growth of the extremes on the right, of which Hungary is a striking example, is based on anxieties over the safety of family and country and the refusal of a world of peace, equality and free of prejudice.

It is important that all other forces of European society have the courage to say that it is possible to live together, to cooperate, to rely on the fundamental rights embodied in the Charter which came into force in December 2009, and to pursue political debates by accepting alternatives, criticism and transparency at the level of the whole European Union. The Hungarian test of the coming months will be very important. It addresses all the draconian laws within the Union, but also the post-Cold War European horizon, i.e. the possibility of a new European political culture. The choice is simple, national selfishness and economic and cultural demise on one side, creation of a new political and cultural space on the other. Fear of change is naturally very present, especially among the elites in power and all those who fear for their personal safety. Let us overcome it! It is up to all the citizens of the Union to come forward now.

This petition was started on January 13th 2012 in Brussels, Budapest and Paris by Jean-Michel De Waele, professor of political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Ildikó Szabó, retired professeur of sociology at the University of Debrecen and Paul Gradvohl, lecturer at the Université de Lorraine. It will be delivered to the representatives of the three European institutions mentioned above: the Parliament, the Commission and the Council.

U kunt de petitie hier ondertekenen.

Hongaarse democratie onder druk

De Hongaarse premier Victor Orbán gebruikt zijn grote meerderheid in het parlement om fikse wijzigingen in het land door te voeren. In 2011 voerde hij een nieuwe mediawet in en nu, sinds 1 januari 2012, zijn een nieuwe controversiële grondwet en bankenwet van kracht geworden. De nieuwe grondwet bedreigt volgens velen de onafhankelijkheid van rechters, terwijl de bankenwet de positie van de Hongaarse centrale bank zou aantasten.

Financiële problemen in Hongarije

Net als Portugal, Ierland, Griekenland en Italië zit ook Hongarije in de financiële problemen. Dit land, dat geen lid is van de eurozone, gaat gebukt onder de hoogste staatsschuld van Oost-Europa, ongeveer 74 procent van het bruto nationaal product. Daarnaast is de nationale valuta van Hongarije, de forint, ook erg zwak.