Hungary is ‘full-fledged il-liberal democracy’, says Miklos Haraszti in EUX.TV Interview

BRUSSELS (EUX.TV) – Miklós Haraszti is a Hungarian writer, journalist and human rights advocate. Directly after a hearing at the European Parliament in Brussels on the controversial new media law in Hungary, he discusses the situation in Hungary with EurActiv.com editor Georgi Gotev. Haraszti said Hungary is abusing the new law to “get rid of constitutional constraints in a quite systematic matter” and warned that this law is part of a proposal for a new constitution in Hungary which the Fidesz government plans to adopt in March. Hungary is set to become the first EU member state to adopt a new constitution in more than 20 years, he said. “It’s not only the media law that is unprecedented,” Haraszti said. “There is a great danger to Hungarian liberal democracy. What we see is technically a democracy but it’s an il-liberal democracy. Hungary is the first, full-fledged il-liberal democracy inside the border lines” of the European Union. Haraszti said it’s “frightening” to see that this is happening in the EU. The hearing in the parliament was organized by the liberal-democrat group ALDE, and also included ALDE President Guy Verhofstadt, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes, Hungarian writer Gyorgy Konrad and others. The ALDE group organized the hearing after it said that it was “dismayed” by the promulgation of a controversial law on media services in Hungary, which was adopted just before Christmas. “This law would muzzle critics, silence public debate and would attack the …