Hungary like the wolf…

Hungry has just announced that it’s withdrawing from the International Criminal Court. The announcement came hours after Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted on an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, arrived in the country on a state visit.

Hungary is of course a (reluctant?) member of the EU which was founded on the core principles of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, Hungary, under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has systematically eroded and undermined these values.

Over the past decade, Hungary has seen an alarming decline in democratic standards. Orban’s government has undermined judicial independence, restricted press freedom, and weakened civil society organisations. His Fidesz party has used its parliamentary majority to rewrite the constitution, redraw electoral districts in its favour, and suppress political opposition.

The European Commission and the European Parliament have repeatedly raised concerns about Hungary’s attacks on judicial independence. Judges who refuse to align with government policies have been sidelined, and the Constitutional Court has been stacked with Orban party loyalists. Anti-corruption watchdogs and independent institutions have been systematically weakened, allowing rampant cronyism and the misuse and abuse of EU funding. An independent free press is fundamental to any democracy but independent journalism has been largely been dismantled in Hungary, state-controlled media dominate the information landscape, while independent outlets are subject to harassment, financial pressure, and closure. Civil society groups, advocating for human rights and transparency, have been targeted through restrictive laws and government intimidation.

Orban’s government have also pursued policies targeting the rights of minority groups within Hungarian society, particularly the migrant, refugee, and the LGBTQ+ community. The ‘Stop the Soros’ law criminalised aiding undocumented migrants in applying for asylum or providing them with information about asylum procedures, required NGOs to register with the government and imposed a 25% tax on organizations receiving foreign funding.

In addition, Hungary’s constitution explicitly defines marriage as between a man and a woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage. In 2020 Orban’s Government passed a law making it illegal for transgender and intersex people to legally change their gender in official documents and in 2021 further passed a law restricting LGBTQ+ content in media, education, and advertising. This has law led to book bans, censorship of LGBTQ themes in films, and removal of educational programs on LGBTQ topics.

Now, regardless of what one personally thinks of these policies, they go against the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and core principles of equality and non-discrimination, which is the premise of this entire OP.

Hungary has continued its authoritarian trajectory despite repeated warnings and infringement proceedings from the European Commission. The EU has withheld some funding through its rule-of-law conditionality mechanism, but this has not led to any meaningful change. The lack of strong consequences has emboldened Orban, and his government continues to defy EU norms while benefiting from EU funds. The latest rejection of the EU’s core principles of equality and human rights in flouting the principle of International Law must surely be the last straw.

While there is no mechanism for the expulsion of members from the EU Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union allows for suspension of EU membership rights.

In September 2018, the European Parliament initiated the procedure to invoke Article 7 against Hungary by adopting a resolution calling for the activation of Article 7 due to the erosion of democratic standards in Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. Poland refused to back the procedure.

What can be done to rid the EU of this canary in the coal mine fifth columnist, this friend of tyrants and harbourer of suspected international war criminals?