Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives for an informal summit of EU leaders at the Palace of Versailles (Palace of Versailles) in Versailles near Paris, France, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo
BUDAPEST, March 31 – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party face their first hard-fought election on April 3 after three consecutive landslide victories since 2010. read more
During his 12-year rule, Orban faced international criticism of democratic standards, media freedom and minority rights.
Below is an overview of his top policies.
MEDIA CONTROL
Orban has transformed the Hungarian media landscape, leading to accusations from the European Union and pro-democracy groups of restricting media freedoms, an accusation his government denies.
Critics say his government is tightening its grip on state media, including the broadcast media, turning it into a pro-government mouthpiece.
Advertising money channeled to pro-government media has helped create more loyal media coverage in the private media, while several private media outlets have been shut down or taken over by pro-government owners. In 2021, Hungary ranked 92nd on the World Press Freedom Index, down from 56th in 2013.
SHARING OF POWERS
Armed with Fidesz’s two-thirds majority, Orban passed a new constitution in 2011 and amended hundreds of laws.
During his first term, Fidesz retired hundreds of judges over laws the EU said broke its rules. Later, the Hungarian Constitutional Court overturned parts of this law.
Critics say new electoral rules have helped consolidate Fidesz’s power by favoring major parties, redefining electoral districts and giving the right to vote to ethnic Hungarians across central Europe, most of whom are inclined to support Orban.
Orban loyalists are also in charge of key institutions, including the Attorney General and the head of the Media Authority.
ECONOMY
Under Orban’s rule, Hungary repaid all outstanding debt to the International Monetary Fund following a bailout during the global financial crisis in 2013, and its debt regained investment-grade status three years later.
His government reined in budget deficits and public debt until the coronavirus pandemic reversed the trend, with Orban’s spending spree ahead of elections in 2021 and this year further widening the deficit.
Europe’s highest banking tax, the nationalization of some private pension funds, and a tax on telecoms, energy and retail companies, most of which are foreign-owned, helped bolster government finances but sparked clashes with Brussels.
Hungarian ownership increased with Fidesz-affiliated businessmen acquiring large chunks of these strategic sectors, with Orban saying earlier this year that the banking, media and energy sectors are majority Hungarian-owned.
IMMIGRATION
Hungary built a fence on its southern border after the 2015 migration crisis and introduced some of Europe’s strictest asylum rules. Orban rejected immigration as a solution to Hungary’s demographic decline, instead promising to boost birth rates with the help of family-friendly taxation. The tax incentives have fueled a real estate boom and rising house prices.
LIMITATIONS ON ACADEMIC FREEDOMS AND NGOS
Orban’s government has cracked down on some NGOs and tightened control over academic institutions.
As a result, the Open Society Foundations, founded by Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, closed its Budapest office in 2018 and moved to Berlin, while a leading liberal school, the Central European University, moved to Vienna in 2019.
INTENSIFIED CHRISTIAN VALUES
Orban has posed as a defender of Hungary’s cultural identity against Muslim immigration and a protector of Christian values against so-called “gender and LGBT ideology” and Western liberalism.
Over the past 12 years, the government has redefined marriage as a union between a man and a woman in the Constitution and restricted gay adoption and transgender rights.
In June 2021, Parliament passed legislation banning school supplies seen as promoting homosexuality and gender switching, drawing criticism from the EU and human rights groups who argued it stigmatized the LGBTQ community.
EAST AND WEST
Under Orban, the EU and NATO member has “opened to the East” towards Russia and China and has campaigned for Moscow’s interests within the EU.
He condemned Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine and backed EU sanctions against Moscow, but has avoided personal criticism of Putin and is staunchly opposed to a ban on Russian energy supplies as it would ruin the economy.
Reporting by Anita Komuves Editing by Tomasz Janowski