Protests in Hungary
Event: From December 16, anti-government protest actions continue in Hungary, the reason for which was the law passed in parliament to increase the number of permissible overtime working hours from 250 to 400 hours per year, according to which companies have the right to delay payment for their employees for three years recycling.
Objective: to remove the right-wing conservative government of Viktor Orban, which causes discontent in Europe and the United States, because they prevent pushing the unconditional subordination of national elites to the center, as well as their position on anti-immigration policy. Next year there will be elections to the European Parliament, in which the “migration lobby” may lose the majority, so it hurries to impose the “necessary” laws.
Direction: public administration
Tool: freedom of speech, human rights
Method: protest, manifestation
Media coverage:
https://korrespondent.net/world/4044758-rabskyi-zakon-tysiachy-venhrov-vyshly-na-protesty
Society reaction: The current protests in Hungary are difficult to compare in scope with the actions of the French “yellow vests.” They aren’t the largest ones during the reign of Orban, which were actions against the Internet tax in the fall of 2014, collecting 100 thousand people. The largest number of protesters in this action was celebrated on December 15-16 – up to 15 thousand people.
Representatives of the trade unions, who called it “slavish,” supported by the opposition “Hungarian Socialist Party” and “Politics may be different,” came out against the “labor” law. The discontent of a part of the Hungarian society was caused by another new law providing for the introduction within 12 months of a parallel judicial system, whose competence will extend to issues related to public administration, including electoral legislation, corruption, the right to strike. The new courts won’t be linked to the existing judicial branch of government and will become under the control of the executive, since the Minister of Justice of Hungary will be able to control the appointment and dismissal of judges. The protesters demanded Orban to repeal unpopular laws, to stop engaging in corruption, to give freedom to the courts and the media, and to “give democracy at Christmas.”
International reaction: in September of this year, the European Parliament approved the penalty procedure for Hungary. The report prepared by Judith Sargentini, a deputy from the Netherlands, spoke about the systematic violations of the rule of law by the Orban government, problems in the constitutional, electoral and judicial systems, worsening of the situation with freedom of speech and pressure on civil society, namely oppression of non-profit organizations. According to the speaker, the Prime Minister of Hungary replaced the independent judges with judges loyal to the government. In addition, according to this report, members of the government have been spending EU money on themselves, their friends and their families since 2010. The sanctions were supported by two thirds of the total number of the European Parliament – 448 people.
Thus, the procedure was launched to apply the seventh article of the Treaty on the European Union, which allows to send an official warning to any country accused of violating the basic values of the bloc. If the violator doesn’t make changes, the article allows imposing a series of sanctions, up to and including the suspension of the right to vote in the EU Council.