Oldalak

8/28/2015

Hungary: changing development model – changing relations with the EU

Hungary is a country where the clearest contrast can be observed in recent years in comparison with the previous decade in terms of economic policy, international economic and political relations, and managing EU affairs. The strong support behind and the overwhelming parliamentary majority of FIDESZ-KDNP coupled with marginalized opposition forces since 2010 made it possible to put into place a completely new program relative to previous years. Using its strategic orientation, rhetoric, and the changes in the electoral system, in April 2014, the government again won an overwhelming (two thirds) majority of the parliamentary seats in the general elections. It seemed that the master plan of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was finally achieved. He had positioned his party in the middle of the political arena and himself as the defender of democracy against the far-right party Jobbik. After winning the parliamentary elections it was anticipated that the government would not be facing any major challenges in the coming years. However unexpected it was though, a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the government had soon started to grow. This change in attitude was fundamentally caused by three events: political mistakes committed by the ruling parties on the domestic scene; increasing international pressure on the government prompted by its authoritarian politics; and the emergence of sharp dividing lines within the governing elite. Given these significant and unexpected changes since the 2014 elections, the political context for the next years has become much more obscure than anyone could have anticipated. The political fight between FIDESZ-KDNP (governing parties), JOBBIK (the far-right) and the Left (traditional and “new” left) will be extremely fierce in the next 2-3 years, which without a doubt will severely disturb the relations between Hungary and the European Union. (Click on the picture)

(A slightly different version of this analysis has been publiched in: Eleanor E. Zeff and Ellen B. Pirro (eds) The European Union and the Member States, Third Edition. Lynne - Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, USA, ISBN: 978-1-62637-256-6 pb, pp. 279-298. August 2015. https://www.rienner.com/uploads/55b14cb0e6953.pdf)


https://www.dropbox.com/s/pmhf9ghwvl39bug/HungaryPaper.pdf?dl=0