Staying the Course

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Hungarian lawmakers voted this week to extend a state of emergency for another six months, a move that critics say allows Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to rule by decree and erode the rule of law in the European Union nation, Bloomberg reported.

On Monday, Hungary’s parliament – dominated by Orbán’s Fidesz party – extended the state of emergency until May 2025, which will allow the prime minister to issue decrees, overwrite bills without going through the legislative process and allow the government to speed up legal changes.

Observers said that Orbán has employed states of emergency in the past: In 2016, his administration declared a so-called state of danger because of the migration crisis. Four years later, parliament expanded the government’s scope of authority over concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic.

In mid-2022, the justification shifted to citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after a constitutional amendment permitted rule by decree in cases such as war in a neighboring country.

Orbán and his nationalist Fidesz party have come under fire from the EU and rule-of-law advocates, who allege that the state of emergency laws have eroded the checks and balances on his power.

The bloc is currently withholding more than $21 billion in funding for Hungary because of rule-of-law complaints.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s parliament on Monday amended a law that had placed senior politicians, including Orbán’s ministers, in control of foundations managing public universities. The new amendment prohibits top officials from holding these positions and sets term limits for trustees.

That law had led the EU to suspend 21 Hungarian universities from the Erasmus Programme, impacting thousands of Hungarian students studying abroad, and barred university researchers from EU-funded projects.